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SUMMA-EY 

OF THE 

PRINCIPAL EVIDENCES 

FOR THE 

TKUTH AND DIVINE OKIGM OF THE 
CHRISTIAN REVELATION. 

BY THE LATE 

BEILBY PORTEUS, D. D. 

LORD BISHOP OF LONDON. 

WITH DEFINITIONS, ANALYSES OE THE SEVERAL 
PROPOSITIONS, AND EXAMINATION QUESTIONS. 

BY JAMES BOYD, LL.D., 

ONE OF THE MASTERS OF THE HIGH SCHOOL. 




EDINBURGH : ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK. 



5^ 






Exchange 
Westeim out. Univ. u 

Feb- 25 



6 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



Since the first publication of this " Summary of 
Christian Evidences," numerous works of a kin- 
dred nature — some of them by writers of high 
talent — have issued from the press ; but none, in 
the humble estimation of the Editor, so perspicuous 
in style, so lucid in arrangement, so convincing in 
argument, so admirably fitted in all respects, to 
enable the young Christian "to give a reason for 
the hope that is in him." He deems, therefore, 
no apology necessary for its reproduction. 

After using it as a Text-Book in his own Classes 
for nearly five-and~twenty years, with delight to 
himself, and with much benefit to his pupils, an 
anxious desire to facilitate its introduction into 
our Schools and Seminaries of Learning, has in- 



11 ADVERTISEMENT. 

duced him to add to it such an apparatus as, he 
trusts, may enable even a school-boy thoroughly 
to understand its statements, and feel the force 
of its reasonings. 

It will afford him unmingled satisfaction to learn 
that, under the blessing of Him " who alone can 
teach savingly and to profit," he has been enabled 
to contribute in any measure, however small, to 
the dissemination of religious knowledge — to cast 
in his mite into the Treasury of Divine Truth. 



High School, Edinburgh, 
2d February 1850. 



SUMMAEY 

OF THE 

PRINCIPAL EVIDENCES 

FOE THE 

TRUTH AM) DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE 
CHRISTIAN REVELATION. 



The method I intend to pursue in this Trea- 
tise is to present to my young Readers the 
following Series of Propositions, and then to 
prove distinctly the truth of each. 

I. From considering the state of the heathen 
world, before the appearance of our Lord upon 
earth, it is evident that there was an absolute 
necessity for a revelation of Go6's will, and, 
of course, a great probability beforelaand, that 
such a revelation would be granted. 

II. At the very time when there was a gene- 



Z SERIES OF 

ral expectation in the world of some extra- 
ordinary personage making his appearance in 
it, a person called Jesus Christ did actually 
appear upon earth, asserting that he was the 
Son of God, and that he was sent from heaven 
to teach mankind true religion; and he did 
accordingly found a religion, which from him 
was called the Christian Eeligion, and which 
has been professed by great numbers of people 
from that time to the present. 

III, The books of the New Testament were 
written by those persons to whom they are 
ascribed, and contain a faithful history of 
Christ and his religion ; and the account there 
given of both, may be securely relied upon as 
strictly true. 

IV. The Scriptures of the Old Testament 
(which are connected wi^n those of the New) 
are the genuine writings of those whose names 
they bear; and give a true account of the 
Mosaic dispensation, of the historical facts, 
the divine commands, the moral precepts, and 
the prophecies which they contain. 

Y. The character of Christ, as represented 



PROPOSITIONS. 6 

in the Gospels, affords very strong ground 
for believing that he was a divine person. 

VI. The sublimity of his doctrines, and the 
purity of his moral precepts, confirm this 
belief. 

VII. The rapid and successful propagation 
of the Gospel by the first teachers of it, 
through a large part of the world, is a proof 
that they were favoured with divine assistance 
and support. 

VHI. A comparison betwixt Christ and 
Mahomet, and their respective religions, leads 
us to conclude, that as the religion of the lat- 
ter was confessedly the invention of man, that 
of the former was derived from God. 

IX. The predictions delivered by the an- 
cient prophets, and fulfilled in our Saviour, 
show that he was the Messiah expected by 
the Jews, and that he came into the world by 
divine appointment, to be the grea.t Deliverer 
and Eedeemer of mankind. 

X. The prophecies delivered by our fea,- 



4 SERIES OF PROPOSITIONS. 

viour himself, prove that he was endued with 
the foreknowledge of future events, which be- 
longs only to God, and to those inspired by 
him. 

XI. The miracles performed by our Lord 
demonstrate him to have possessed divine 
power. 

XII. The resurrection of our Lord from the 
dead, is a fact fully proved by the clearest 
evidence, and is the seal and confirmation of 
his divinity, and of the truth of his religion. 

These are the several points I shall under- 
take to prove in the following pages ; and if 
these are clearly made out, there can be 
nothing more wanting to satisfy every rea- 
sonable man, that the Christian Religion is a 
true Revelation from God. 



PROPOSITION I. 

FROM CONSIDERING THE STATE OF THE HEATHEN 
WORLD, BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF OUR 
LORD UPON EARTH, IT IS EVIDENT THAT 
THERE WAS AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY FOR 
A DIVINE REVELATION OF GOD's WILL, AND, 
OF COURSE, A GREAT PROBABILITY BEFORE- 
HAND, THAT SUCH A REVELATION WOULD 
BE GRANTED. 



Ancient History — Includes the Jewish history and that 
of the nations of antiquity, and reaches down to the 
destruction of the Roman Empire, A. d. 476. 

Heathen Woeld. All nations except the Jews or Israel- 
ites. 

Supeestition. Religious observances by which the favour 
of God is sought, which reason and Scripture dis- 
countenance, and especially all idolatrous rites. 

Attributes. Qualities considered as belonging to, or in- 
herent in. 

Addicted. Devoted by customary practice. 

Contemporary. Living at the same period of time. 

Unrighteousness. Injustice. 

Fornication. Lewdness. 

Philosophers. Men who devote themselves to the study 
of physics, or of moral or intellectual science. 



b PROP. I. NECESSITY FOR 

Counteract. To act in opposition to ; to hinder, defeat, 
or frustrate by contrary agency. 

Christian Dispensation. The scheme of redemption 
by Christ. 

Expiation. The means by which we atone for crimes ; 
atonement. 

Infidels. Men who disbelieve the inspiration of the Scrip- 
tures, and the Divine origin of Christianity. 

Deist. One who believes in the existence of a God, but 
denies revealed religion. 

Philosophist. One who delights in fallacious argu- 
ments, or false reasoning. 

Predicament. State, situation, or condition. 

Vouchsafed. Condescendingly granted. 



They who are acquainted with ancient his- 
tory, know perfectly well that there is no one 
fact more certain and more notorious than 
this : That for many ages before our Saviour 
appeared upon earth, and at the time he actu- 
ally did appear, the whole heathen world, even 
the politest and most civilized, and most learned 
nations, were, with a very few exceptions, 
sunk in the most deplorable ignorance of every 
thing relating to God, and to religion ; the 
grossest superstition and idolatry, and in the 
most abominable corruption and depravity of 
mariners. They neither understood the true 
nature of God, nor the attributes and perfec- 
tions which belong to him, nor the worship 






A DIVINE REVELATION. 7 

that was acceptable to him, nor the moral 
duties which he required from his creatures ; 
nor had they any clear notions or firm belief 
of the immortality of the soul, and a state 
of rewards and punishments in another life. 
They believed the world to be under the direc- 
tion of a vast multitude of gods and goddesses, 
to whom they ascribed the worst passions 
and the worst vices that ever disgraced human 
nature. They worshipped also dead men and 
women, birds and beasts, insects and reptiles 
(especially that most odious and disgusting 
reptile, the serpent), together with an infinite 
number of idols, the work of their own hands, 
from various materials, gold, silver, wood, and 
stone. "With respect to their own conduct, 
they were almost universally addicted to the 
most shocking and abominable vices : even 
many of their solemn religious ceremonies and 
acts of devotion were scenes of the grossest 
sensuality and licentiousness. Others of them 
were attended Avith the most savage and cruel 
superstitions, and sometimes even with human 
sacrifices. 

The description given of the ancient Pa- 
gans by St. Paul, in the first chapter of his 
Epistle to the Romans, is strictly and lite- 



8 PROP. I. — NECESSITY FOR 

rally true — " They were filled with all un- 
righteousness, fornication, wickedness, covet- 
ousness, uncleanness, maliciousness ; full of 
envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity ; whis- 
perers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, 
proud, boasters, inventors of evil things ; dis- 
obedient to parents, without understanding, 
covenant-breakers, without natural affection, 
implacable, unmerciful." 

These are not the mere general declama- 
tions of a pious man against the wicked- 
ness of the times ; they are faithful and exact 
pictures of the manners of the age, and they 
are fully and amply confirmed by contem- 
porary heathen writers. They are applied 
also to a people, highly civilised, ingeni- 
ous, learned, and celebrated for their pro- 
ficiency in all liberal arts and sciences. What, 
then, must have been the depravity of the 
most barbarous nations, when such were the 
morals of the most polite and virtuous ? 

There were, it is true, among all the an- 
cient nations, and especially among the Greeks 
and Romans, some wise and comparatively 
good men, called philosophers, who had juster 
notions of morality and religion than the rest 
of the world, and preserved themselves to a 



A DIVINE REVELATION. 9 

certain degree unpolluted by the general 
corruption of the times. But these were few 
in proportion to the great bulk of mankind, 
and were utterly unable to produce any con- 
siderable change in the prevailing principles 
and manners of their countrymen. They 
themselves had but very imperfect and erron- 
eous notions respecting the nature and attri- 
butes of God, the worship he required, the 
duties and obligations of morality, the method 
of God's governing the world, his design in 
creating mankind, the original dignity of 
human nature, the state of corruption and de- 
pravity into which it afterwards fell, the par- 
ticular mode of divine interposition necessary 
for the recovery of the human race, the means 
of regaining the favour of their offended Maker, 
and the glorious end to which God intended 
finally to conduct them. Even with respect 
to those great and important doctrines above 
mentioned, the immortality of the soul, the 
reality of a future state, and the distribution 
of rewards and punishments hereafter, they 
were full of doubts, uncertainty, and hesita- 
tion ; and rather ardently wished and hoped 
for, than confidently expected and believed 
them. But even what they did know with 



10 PROP. I. NECESSITY FOR 

any degree of clearness and certainty, they 
either would not condescend, or wanted the 
ability, to render plain and intelligible to the 
lower orders of the people. They were des- 
titute also of proper authority to enforce the 
virtues they recommended ; they had no mo- 
tives to propose, powerful enough to over-rule 
strong temptations and corrupt inclinations : 
their own example, instead of recommending 
their precepts, tended to counteract them ; for 
it was generally (even in the very best of them) 
in direct opposition to their doctrines ; and the 
detestable vices to which many of them were 
addicted, entirely destroyed the efficacy of 
what they taught. 

Above all, they were destitute of those awful 
sanctions of religion, which are the most 
effectual restraints on the passions and vices 
of mankind, and the most powerful incen- 
tives to virtue — the rewards and punishments 
of a future state, which form so essential and 
important a part of the Christian dispensation. 

There was, therefore, a plain and absolute 
necessity for a divine revelation, to rescue 
mankind from that gulf of ignorance, super- 
stition, idolatry, wickedness, and misery, in 
which they were almost universally sunk ; to 



A DIVINE REVELATION. 11 

teach them in what manner, and with what 
kind of external service, God might most ac- 
ceptably be worshipped, and what expiation 
he would accept for sin ; to give them a full 
assurance of a future state and a future judg- 
ment ; to make the whole doctrine of religion 
clear and obvious to all capacities ; to add 
weight and authority to the plainest precepts, 
and to furnish men with extraordinary and 
supernatural assistance, to enable them to over- 
come the corruptions of their nature. And 
since it was also plainly worthy of God, 
and consonant to all our ideas of his good- 
ness, mercy, and compassion to the work 
of his own hands, that he should thus en- 
lighten, and assist, and direct the creatures 
he had made, there was evidently much ground 
to expect that such information and assistance 
would be granted ; and the wisest of the an- 
cient heathens themselves thought it most na- 
tural and agreeable to right reason to hope 
for something of this nature. 

" You may give over," says Socrates, " all 

hopes of amending men's manners for the 

future, unless God be pleased to send you 

some other person to instruct you;"* and 

* Plato in Apolog. Socratis. 



12 PROP. I. NECESSITY FOR 

Plato declares, that whatever is right, and 
as it should be in the present evil state of the 
world, can be so only by the particular inter- 
position of God.* Cicero has made similar de- 
clarations ; and Porphyry, who was a most 
inveterate enemy to the Christian religion, yet 
confesses, that there was wanting some uni- 
versal method of delivering men's souls, which no 
sect of philosophy had ever yet found ouf\ 

These confessions of the great sages of an- 
tiquity infinitely outweigh the assertions of our 
modern infidels, " that human reason is fully 
sufficient to teach man his duty, and enable him 
to perform it ; and that, therefore, a divine re- 
velation was perfectly needless." It is true, that 
in the present times, a Deist may have tole- 
rably just notions of the nature and attributes 
of the Supreme Being, of the worship due to 
Him, of the ground and extent of moral obli- 
gation, and even of a future state of retri- 
bution. But from whence does he derive 
these notions ? Not from the dictates of his 
own unassisted reason, but (as the philoso- 
phist Rousseau himself confesses^:) from those 

* Plato, De Kep. 

f Augustrn. De Civitate Dei, 1. 10. c. 32. 

X Vol. ix. p. 71. 12mo. 1764. 



A DIVINE REVELATION. 13 

very Scriptures which, he despises and reviles, 
from the early impressions of education, from 
living and conversing in a Christian country, 
where those doctrines are publicly taught, and 
where, in spite of himself, he imbibes some por- 
tion of that religious knowledge which the sa- 
cred writings have every where diffused and 
communicated to the enemies as well as the 
friends of the Gospel. But they who were desti- 
tute of these advantages, they who had nothing 
but reason to direct them, and therefore knew 
what reason is capable of doing when left to 
itself, much better than any modern infidel 
(who never was, and never can be, precisely 
in the same predicament); these men uni- 
formly declare, that the mere light of nature 
was not competent to conduct them into the 
road of happiness and virtue ; and that the 
only sure and certain guide to carry men well 
through this life, was a divine discovery of the 
truth* These considerations may serve to 
show, that, instead of entertaining any un- 
reasonable prejudices beforehand against the 
possibility or probability of any divine reve- 
lation whatever, we ought, on the contrary, 
to be previously prepossessed in favour of it, 
* Plato, in Phsedone. 



14 PROP. I. — NECESSITY FOR 

and to be prepared and open to receive it 
with candour and fairness, whenever it should 
come supported with sufficient evidence : be- 
cause, from considering the wants of man and 
the mercy of God, it appears highly pro- 
bable that such a revelation would some time 
or other be vouchsafed to mankind. 



ANALYSIS. 

State of the heathen world as represented in Ancient 
History — Ignorance of God and of religion — Superstition 
and idolatry — Corruption and depravity of manners — 
Confirmed by description given in the sacred writings of 
the most polished nations of antiquity. Some of the 
ancient philosophers exceptions to this rule; unable to 
produce any considerable change on the prevailing prin- 
ciples and manners — 1. Because their notions respecting 
many important doctrines were imperfect and errone- 
ous; respecting others, full of doubts, uncertainty, and 
hesitation. 2. Because they could not or would not 
render intelligible to the lower orders what they did 
know. 3. Because destitute of authority and of motives 
sufficiently powerful. 4. Because their own example was 
in direct opposition to their precepts. 5. Because destitute, 
above all, of religious sanctions (rewards and punishments 
of a future state). Revelation, therefore, necessary ; for 
what purposes. From the nature of the Divine Being, 
also highly probable. Opinions on this point of Socrates, 
Plato, Cicero, and Porphyry. Contrary opinion of modern 
infidels infinitely outweighed by those of the ancient 
sages. Result of these considerations. A revelation, 



A DIVINE REVELATION. 15 

sufficiently attested, to be received with candour and fair- 
ness — why ? 

QUESTIONS. 

1. State the first proposition. 

2. What, according to Ancient History, was the state 
of the heathen world for many ages before our Saviour 
appeared upon earth, and at the time He actually did 
appear ? 

3. In what did their ignorance of God consist ? 

4. In what, their superstition and idolatry ? 

5. In what, their corruption and depravity of manners ? 

6. By which of the Sacred Writers, and in what part 
of his writings, is this account confirmed ? 

7. Repeat his description of the ancient Pagans. 

8. In what light are we to regard these details ? 

9. To whom are they applied ? 

10. What must necessarily be inferred respecting the 
. rest of the world ? 

11. Were there not among all the nations of antiquity, 
and especially among the Greeks and Romans, some ex- 
ceptions to this rule ? 

12. What proportion did they bear to the great bulk 
of mankind ? 

13. What influence did they consequently exercise on 
the reformation of their fellow-citizens ? 

14. Mention the first cause to which this inability 
must be ascribed. 

15. The second. 

16. The third. 

17. The fourth. 

18. The fifth. 

19. Of what restraints on vice, and incentives to 
virtue, were they especially destitute ? 

20. What then was necessary, since the highest human 
means were unavailing ? 



16 NECESSITY FOR A DIVINE REVELATION. 

21. For what purposes was it required ? 

22. Was there any probability that such a revelation 
would be granted ? 

23. What opinion did the wisest of the ancient 
heathens themselves entertain on this point ? 

24. In what terms did Socrates express himself? 

25. What did Plato declare ? 

26. Of what nature are Cicero's declarations ? 

27. What does Porphyry confess ? 

28. What contrary opinion has been expressed by 
modern infidels ? 

29. Why have their assertions little weight when 
compared with the confessions of the great sages of an- 
tiquity ? 

30. In what manner, then, ought we to receive a 
Divine Revelation when it comes to us supported with 
sufficient evidence ? 

31. Why? 



17 



PROPOSITION n. 

AT THE VERT TIME WHEN THERE WAS A 
GENERAL EXPECTATION IN THE WORLD OP 
SOME EXTRAORDINARY PERSONAGE MAK- ■ 
ING HIS APPEARANCE IN IT, A PERSON 
CALLED JESUS CHRIST DID ACTUALLY AP- 
PEAR UPON EARTH, ASSERTING THAT HE 
WAS THE SON OF GOD, AND THAT HE CAME 
FROM HEAVEN TO TEACH MANKIND TRUE 
RELIGION ; AND HE DID ACCORDINGLY 
FOUND A RELIGION, WHICH FROM HIM 
WAS CALLED THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, 
AND WHICH HAS BEEN PROFESSED BY 
GREAT NUMBERS OF PEOPLE FROM THAT 
TIME TO THE PRESENT. 



Personage. A considerable person ; a man or woman 
of eminence. 

Found. To give birth or origin to ; to establish. 

Pagan. Heathen. 

Wise Men. Magi, the learned men of the Eastern nations, 
devoted to astronomy, to religion, and to medicine. 

The East. Persia or Arabia, both east from Judaea. 

Professed. Openly declared, avowed. 

Question. To entertain doubts respecting. 

Concurrent. Joining or uniting in one action or opin- 
ion ; agreeing, harmonious. 
b 2 



18 PROP. II. ACTUAL APPEARANCE 



It was necessary just to state this Propo- 
sition, as the foundation of all the reasoning 
that is to follow : but the truth of it is so 
universally acknowledged, that it requires but 
very few words to be said in support of it. 

That there was, about the time of our Sa- 
viour's birth, a general expectation spread 
over the eastern part of the world, that some 
very extraordinary person would appear in 
Judaea, is evident both from the sacred history 
and from Pagan writers. St. Matthew in- 
forms us, that when Jesus was born in 
Bethlehem of Judaea, there came wise men 
(probably men of considerable rank and learn- 
ing in their own country) from the East, 
saying, " Where is he that is born King of 
the Jews ? for we have seen his Star in the 
East, and are come to worship him." In 
confirmation of this, two Roman historians, 
Suetonius and Tacitus, assert, that there pre- 
vailed at that time, over the whole East, 
an ancient and fixed opinion, that there should 
arise out of Judaea a person who should ob- 
tain dominion over the world. 

That at this time, when Augustus Caesar 
was emperor of Rome, a person called Jesus 



OF JESUS CHRIST. 19 

Christ was actually born in Judsea ; that he 
professed to come from heaven to teach man- 
kind true religion, and that he had a multi- 
tude of followers ; the sacred historians una- 
nimously affirm, and several heathen authors 
also bear testimony to the same facts. They 
mention the very name of Christ, and acknow- 
ledge that he had a great number of disciples, 
who from him were called Christians. The 
Jews, though professed enemies to our re- 
ligion, acknowledge these things to be true; 
and none even of the earliest Pagans who 
wrote against Christianity, ever pretended to 
question their reality. These things, there- 
fore, are as certain and undeniable as ancient 
history, both sacred and profane, and the 
concurrent testimony both of friends and ene- 
mies, can possibly make them. 



ANALYSIS. 

Truth of this proposition universally acknowledged — 
only stated as the foundation of the reasoning that is to 
follow. That such an expectation existed, evident both 
from sacred and profane history. St. Matthew's state- 
ment; — confirmed by Roman historians Suetonius and 
Tacitus. Advent of Jesus Christ at the very time when 
this expectation prevailed unanimously affirmed by sacred 



20 ACTUAL APPEARANCE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

historians — testified by several heathen authors — acknow- 
ledged by the Jews themselves — uncontradicted even by the 
earliest adversaries of Christianity — certain, therefore, and 
undeniable. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. State the second proposition. 

2. 'Why is this proposition stated, since its truth is so 
universally acknowledged ? 

3. Whence does it appear that there prevailed over the 
East a general expectation of some extraordinar}' per- 
sonage making his appearance in Judasa ? 

4. Of what fact indicating the existence of such an 
expectation does St. Matthew inform us ? 

5. By what Pagan writers is this confirmed ? 

6. What do they assert with regard to it? 

7. Whose advent took place in Judaea at the very time 
when this expectation prevailed ? 

8. To what origin did He lay claim ? To what mis- 
sion ? 

9. With what success was He attended? 

10. What testimony do the Sacred Historians bear to 
these facts ? 

11. What testimony is borne to them by Heathen 
authors ? 

12. What acknowledgment regarding them is made by 
the Jews ? 

13. What negative confirmation do they receive from 
the early adversaries of Christianity ? 

14. To what degree of credit, then, are they entitled ? 



21 



PROPOSITION m. 

THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT WERE 
WRITTEN BY THOSE PERSONS TO WHOM 
THEY ARE ASCRIBED, AND CONTAIN A 
FAITHFUL HISTORY OF CHRIST AND HIS 
RELIGION; AND THE ACCOUNT THERE 
GIVEN OF BOTH MAY BE SECURELY RE- 
LIED UPON AS STRICTLY TRUE. 



Quoted. Cited, adduced by way of authority or illustra- 
tion. 

Evangelists. The authors of the canonical gospels ; the 
writers of the history of our Lord Jesus. 

Apostles. Persons sent with mandates by another — parti- 
cularly applied to those whom our Saviour deputed 
to preach the Gospel. — (Luke vi. 13.) 

To SET FORTH EST ORDER A DECLARATION. To Compose a 

history, a digest. 

Complicated. Interwoven, entangled, involved, intricate. 

Propagating. Spreading abroad, making public. 

Fiction. A thing feigned or invented, a falsehood, a He. 

Knavery. Dishonesty, fraud. 

Miracle. An effect above human or natural power, per- 
formed in attestation of some truth. 

Disinterested. Having no personal interest or private 
advantage in a question or affair. 

Transcripts. Copies. 

Corruption. Vitiation, alteration of the sacred text. 

Manuscripts. Books written, not printed. 



22 PROP. III. AUTHENTICITY OF THE 

Heresies. Opinions repugnant to the doctrines of Scrip- 
ture, as understood by the Church. 

Critics. Persons skilled in the art of judging of literary 
performances. 



The books which contain the history of Christ 
and of the Christian religion, are the four 
Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. That 
the Gospels were written by the persons 
whose names they bear, namely, Matthew, 
Mark, Luke, and John, there is no more 
reason to doubt, than that the histories which 
we have under the names of Xenophon, Livy, 
or Tacitus, were written by those authors. 

A great many passages are alluded to or 
quoted from the Evangelists exactly as we 
read them now, by a regular succession of 
Christian writers, from the time of the Apostles 
down to this hour ; and at a very early period 
their names are mentioned as the authors of 
their respective Gospels ; which is more than 
can be said for any other ancient historian 
whatever.* 

These books have always been considered 
by the whole Christian world, from the Apos- 
tolic age, as containing a faithful history of 

* Lardner's Credibility, b. i. ; and Paley's Evidences, vol. i. 



BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 23 

their religion, and therefore they ought to be 
received as such ; just as we allow the Koran 
to contain a genuine account of the Maho- 
metan religion, and the sacred books of the 
Bramins to contain a true representation of 
the Hindoo religion. 

That all the facts related in these writings, 
and the accounts given of every thing our 
Saviour said and did, are also strictly true, 
we have the most substantial grounds for 
believing. 

For, in the first place, the writers had the 
very best means of information, and could not 
possibly be deceived themselves. 

And, in the next place, they could have no 
conceivable inducement for imposing upon 
others. 

St. Matthew and St. John were two of our 
Lord's Apostles ; his constant companions and 
attendants throughout the whole of his ministry. 
They were actually present at the scenes which 
they describe ; eye-witnesses of the facts, and 
ear-witnesses of the discourses, which they 
relate. 

St. Mark and St. Luke, though not them- 
selves Apostles, yet were the contemporaries 
and companions of Apostles, and in habits of 



24 PROP. III. AUTHENTICITY OF THE 

society and friendship with those who had 
been present at the transactions which they 
record. St. Luke expressly says this in the 
beginning of his Gospel, which opens with 
these words: — "Forasmuch as many have 
taken in hand to set forth in order a declar- 
ation of those things which are most surely 
believed amongst us, even as they delivered 
them unto us, which from the beginning were 
eye-witnesses and ministers of the word ; it seemed 
good to me also, having had perfect understand- 
ing of all things from the very first, to write unto 
thee, in order, most excellent Theophilus, 
that thou mightest know the certainty of those 
things wherein thou hast been instructed." St. 
Luke also being the author of the Acts of the 
Apostles, we have, for the writers of these five 
books, persons who had the most perfect know- 
ledge of every thing they relate, either from 
their own personal observation, or from im- 
mediate communications with those who saw 
and heard every thing that passed. 

They could not, therefore, be themselves 
deceived; nor could they have the least in- 
ducement, or the least inclination, to deceive 
others. 

They were plain, honest, artless, unlearned 



BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 25 

men, in very humble occupations of life, and 
utterly incapable of inventing or carrying on 
such a refined and complicated system of fraud, 
as the Christian religion must have been if it 
was not true. There are, besides, the strongest 
marks of fairness, candour, simplicity, and 
truth, throughout the whole of their narra- 
tives. Their greatest enemies have never 
attempted to throw the least stain upon their 
characters ; and how then, can they be sup- 
posed capable of so gross an imposition as 
that of asserting and propagating the most im- 
pudent fiction ? They could gain by it neither 
pleasure, profit, nor power. On the contrary, 
it brought upon them the most dreadful evils, 
and even death itself. If therefore they were 
cheats, they were cheats without any motive, 
and without any advantage ; nay, contrary 
to every motive and every advantage that 
usually influence the actions of men. They 
preached a religion which forbids falsehood 
under pain of eternal punishment, and yet, on 
this supposition, they supported that religion 
by falsehood; and whilst they were guilty 
of the basest and most useless knavery them- 
selves, they were taking infinite pains, 



26 PROP. III. AUTHENTICITY OF THE 

and going through the greatest labour and 
sufferings, in order to teach honesty to all 
mankind. 

Is this credible ? Is this possible ? Is not 
this a mode of acting so contrary to all expe- 
rience, to all the principles of human nature, 
and to all the usual motives of human con- 
duct, as to exceed the utmost bounds of belief, 
and to compel every reasonable man to reject 
at once so monstrous a supposition ? 

The facts, therefore, related in the Gospels, 
and in the Acts of the Apostles, even those 
evidently miraculous, must be true; for the 
testimony of those who die for what they assert, 
is evidence sufficient to support any miracle 
whatever. And this opinion of their veracity 
is strongly confirmed by the following con- 
siderations : — 

There are, in all the sacred writings of the New 
Testament, continual allusions and references to 
things, persous, places, manners, customs, and 
opinions, which are found to be perfectly con- 
formable to the real state of things at that 
time, as represented by disinterested and con- 
temporary writers. Had their story been a 
forgery, they would certainly have been de- 



BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 27 

tected in some mistake or other concerning 
these incidental circumstances, which yet they 
have never once been. 

Then, as to the facts themselves which they 
relate, great numbers of them are mentioned 
and admitted both by Jewish and Roman his- 
torians ; such as the star that appeared at our 
Saviour's birth, the journey of the wise men to 
Bethlehem, Herod's murder of the infants 
under two years old, many particulars con- 
cerning John the Baptist and Herod, the cruci- 
fixion of our Lord under Pontius Pilate, and 
the earthquake and miraculous darkness which 
attended it. Nay, even many of the miracles 
which Jesus himself wrought, particularly the 
curing of the lame and blind, and casting 
out devils, are, as to the matters of fact, ex- 
pressly owned and admitted by several of the 
earliest and most implacable enemies of Chris- 
tianity. For though they ascribed these mi- 
racles to the assistance of evil spirits, yet they 
allowed that the miracles themselves were 
actually wrought. * 

This testimony of our adversaries, even to 
the miraculous parts of the sacred history, is 

* Clarke's Evidences of Nat. and Rev. Religion. 



28 PROP. III. AUTHENTICITY OF THE 

the strongest possible confirmation of the truth 
and authority of the whole. 

It is also certain, that the books of the New 
Testament have come down to the present 
times without any material alteration or cor- 
ruption; and that they are, in all essential 
points, the same as they came from the hands 
of their authors. 

That in the various transcripts of these 
writings, as in all other ancient books, a few 
letters, syllables, or even words, may have 
been changed, we do not pretend to deny ; 
but that there has been any designed or 
fraudulent corruption of any considerable 
part, especially of any doctrine, or any im- 
portant passage of history, no one has ever 
attempted, or been able, to prove. Indeed, 
it was absolutely impossible. There can be no 
doubt but that, as soon as any of the original 
■writings came out of the hands of their 
authors, great numbers of copies were imme- 
diately taken, and sent to all the different 
Christian churches. We know that they were 
publicly read in the religious assemblies of the 
first Christians. "We know, also, that they 
were very soon translated into a variety of 
foreign languages, and these ancient versions 






BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 29 

(many of which still remain) were quickly- 
dispersed into all parts of the known world ; 
nay, even several of the original manuscripts 
remained to the time of Tertullian at the end 
of the second century.* There are numberless 
quotations from every part of the New Testa- 
ment by Christian writers, from the earliest 
ages down to the present, all which substan- 
tially agree with the present text of the sacred 
writings. Besides which, a variety of sects 
and heresies soon arose in the Christian church, 
and each of these appealed to the Scriptures 
for the truth of their doctrine. It would, 
therefore, have been utterly impossible for any 
one sect to have made any material alteration 
in the sacred books, without being immediately 
detected and exposed by all the others, f Their 
mutual jealousy and suspicion of each other 
would effectually prevent any gross adultera- 
tion of the sacred volumes ; and with respect 
to lesser matters, the best and most able critics 
have, after the most minute examination, 
asserted and proved, that the holy scriptures 
of the New Testament have suffered less from 
the injury of time, and the errors of trans - 

* Grotius, de Yer. 1. 3. s. 2. f Beattie, vol. i. p. 188. 



30 PROP. HI. AUTHENTICITY OF THE 

cribers, than any other ancient writings 
whatsoever. * 



ANALYSIS. 

Authenticity of the books of New Testament ; no reason 
for doubting of ; first proof of; second do. Grounds for 
believing the truth of the facts related in the Gospels. St. 
Matthew and St. John present at the scenes which they 
describe. St. Mark and St. Luke companions of the 
Apostles, and friends of those who witnessed the transac- 
tions which they record. St. Luke also author of the Acts 
of the Apostles. These five books, therefore, written by 
parties having a perfect knowledge of what they relate, 
and incapable of being deceived. 

That they could have no wish to deceive others, proved 
— 1. By their personal character. 2. By the nature of 
their narratives. 3. By the silence of their enemies. 4. 
By the dreadful evils which they brought upon them- 
selves. 5. By the monstrous inconsistency of such con- 



* The style, too, of the Gospel (says the amiahle and elegant 
author of " The Minstrel") bears intrinsic evidence of its truth. 
We find there no appearance of artifice or of party spirit ; no at- 
tempt to exaggerate on the one hand, or depreciate on the other ; 
no remarks thrown in to anticipate objections ; nothing of that 
caution which never fails to distinguish the testimony of those 
who are conscious of imposture ; no endeavour to reconcile the 
reader's mind to what may be extraordinary in the narrative ; 
all is fair, candid, and simple. The historians make no reflections 
of their own, but confine themselves to matter of fact — that is, to 
what they heard and saw ; and honestly record their own mis- 
takes and faults, as well as the other particulars of the story. — 
Beanie's Evidences, vol. i. p. 89. 



BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 31 

duct with the morality they inculcated. Necessary result. 



This opinion confirmed by two considerations : 1. The 
perfect conformity proved to exist between the allusions 
and references with which they abound, and the real state 
of things at that time ; and, 2. The acknowledgment of 
many of the facts by Jewish and Koman historians, and 
the admission of many of the miracles of Christ by some 
of the earliest and most implacable enemies of Christianity. 
Importance of this latter circumstance. 

Genuineness of the books of the New Testament not 
less certain. Not denied that trifling changes may have 
occurred ; no intentional or fraudulent corruption of im- 
portance ever been alleged or proved. Any material 
alteration shewn to be absolutely impossible : 1. From 
multitude of copies taken. 2. From publicity given to 
them. 3. From translations made into foreign languages. 

4. From numberless quotations made by Christian writers. 

5. From variety of sects and heresies in the Church, each 
appealing to Scripture for truth of their doctrines. Even 
with respect to inferior matters, Scriptures of New Testa- 
ment less injured by time than any other ancient writings. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. State the third proposition. 

2. Which of these books contain the history of Christ 
and of the Christian Religion ? 

3. Is there any reason to doubt the authenticity of the 



4. What is the first reason for believing that they were 
written by the persons whose names they bear ? 

5. The second reason ? 

6. What grounds have we for believing that the facts 
related in them, and the accounts given of every thing 
our Saviour said and did, are also strictly true ? 

7. Which of the Evangelists were the companions and 



32 PROP. III. AUTHENTICITY OF THE 

attendants of our Lord throughout the whole of his minis- 
try, and actually present at the scenes which they de- 
scribe? 

8. "Why are the narratives of the other Evangelists 
equally entitled to our belief? 

9. On what authority do you affirm this ? 

10. Repeat his words. 

11. Of what other book was he also the author ? 

12. By what description of persons, then, were the his- 
torical books of the New Testament written ? 

13. What inference must we necessarily draw from 
this? 

14. What ground for believing that they had neither 
inducement nor inclination to deceive is furnished by their 
characters ? 

15. By their narratives ? 

16. By the silence of their enemies ? 

17. By the evils which their adherence to the Christian 
religion brought upon them ? 

18. By the utter folly of such conduct, and its monstrous 
inconsistency with the precepts they inculcated ? 

19. Can it be believed that men of such character, and 
in such circumstances, would attempt, at the expense of 
all that is dear in life, and of life itself, to propagate a 
system of fraud and imposture ? 

20. What unavoidably follows ? Why ? 

21. By what consideration is this opinion of their vera- 
city strongly confirmed ? 

22. Could this have been the case, if their story had 
been a forgery ? 

23. From what other circumstance does it derive strong 
confirmation ? 

24. Mention some of these. 

25. What admission by the early enemies of Chris- 
tianity constitutes the strongest possible confirmation of 
its truth ? 

26. Is it also certain that the books of the New Testa- 



BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 33 

ment have come down to the present times without any 
material alteration or corruption ? 

27. What was the first circumstance that rendered any- 
intentional corruption of the sacred text impossible ? 

28. The second ? 

29. The third? 

30. The fourth? 

31. The fifth ? 

32. What have the ablest critics proved even with 
respect to minor matters ? 



34 PROP. IV. — AUTHENTICITY OF THE 



PROPOSITION IV. 

THE SCRIPTURES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, 
WHICH ARE CONNECTED WITH THOSE OF 
THE NEW, ARE THE GENUINE WRITINGS OF 
THOSE WHOSE NAMES THEY BEAR, AND 
GIVE A TRUE ACCOUNT OF THE MOSAIC 
DISPENSATION, AS WELL AS OF THE HIS- 
TORICAL FACTS, THE DIVINE COMMANDS, 
THE MORAL PRECEPTS, AND THE PRO- 
PHECIES WHICH THEY CONTAIN. 



Mosaic Dispensation. The system of principles and 
rites promulgated by Moses ; the Levitical law and 
rites. 

Preceptive. Containing or giving rules for our conduct. 

Authenticity. The term authenticity implies that the 
Scriptures of the Old and New Testament contain 
nothing but what is absolutely true in respect both of 
history and doctrine. 

Genuineness. The genuineness of the Sacred Books 
means nothing more than that they were actually 
written by the authors to whom they are ascribed, 
and that they have been transmitted to us without es- 
sential change, mutilation, or abridgment. 

Book of the Law. The institutions of Moses, or code 
of laws prescribed by him to the Jews. 

Extant. In being, now subsisting, not destroyed or lost. 

Pentateuch. The five Books of Moses (s-svrs rtv^o?)- 



OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 35 

Septu agent. A translation of the Old Testament into 
Greek, so called as being the work of seventy-two 
interpreters. 

Messiah. The Anointed ; the Christ ; the Saviour of the 
World ; the Prince of Peace. 

Chaos. That confused mass in which matter is supposed 
to have existed, before it was separated into its dif- 
ferent kinds, and reduced to order by the creating 
power of God. 

Jewish Ritual. The rites and observances of the Jewish 
religion. 

Inspired. Informed or directed by the Holy Spirit. 

Polite Arts. Painting, sculpture, music, &c. 

Obtrudes. Thrusts itself in, forces itself in. 



That part of the Bible which is called the 
Old Testament, contains a great variety of 
very different compositions, some historical, 
some poetical, some moral and preceptive, 
some prophetical ; written at different times, 
and by different persons, and collected into 
one volume by the care of the Jews. 

That these books were all written by those 
whose names they bear, there is not the 
least reasonable ground to doubt ; they have 
been always considered as the writings of 
those persons by the whole Jewish nation, 
(who were most interested in their authen- 
ticity, and most likely to know the truth,) 
from the earliest times down to the present ; 



36 PROP. IV. AUTHENTICITY OF THE 

and no proof to the contrary has ever yet been 
produced. 

That these writings have come down to us 
in the same state in which they were originally 
written, as to all essential points, there is 
every reason to believe. The original manu- 
scripts were long preserved among the Jews. 
A copy of the book of the law was preserved 
in the ark ; it was ordered to be read publicly 
every seven years, at the feast of the taber- 
nacles, as well as privately, and frequently, 
in every Jewish family. 

There is a copy still extant of the five books 
of Moses (which are called the Pentateuch) 
taken by the Samaritans, who were bitter 
enemies to the Jews, and always at variance 
with them ; and this copy agrees, in every 
material instance, with the Jewish copy. 

Near three hundred years before Christ, 
these Scriptures were translated into Greek, 
and this version (called the Septuagint) agrees 
also in all essential articles with the Hebrew 
original. This being very widely spread over 
the world, rendered any considerable alter- 
ation extremely difficult ; and the dispersion 
of the Jews, into all the different regions of 
the globe, made it next to impossible. 



OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 37 

The Jews were always remarkable for 
being most faithful guardians of their sacred 
books, which they transcribed repeatedly, 
and compared most carefully with the ori- 
ginals, and of which they even numbered 
the words and letters. That they have not 
corrupted any of their prophetical writings 
appears from hence ; that we prove Jesus to 
be the Messiah from many of those very pro- 
phecies which they have themselves preserved; 
and which (if their invincible fidelity to their 
sacred books had not restrained them) their 
hatred to Christianity would have led them to 
alter or to suppress. And their credit is still 
further established by this circumstance, — that 
our Saviour, though he brings many heavy 
charges against the Scribes and Pharisees, yet 
never once accuses them of corrupting or fal- 
sifying any one of their sacred writings. 

It is no less certain that these writings give 
a true and faithful account of the various 
matters which they contain. Many of the prin- 
cipal facts and circumstances related in them 
are mentioned by the most ancient heathen 
authors. The first origin and creation of the 
world out of chaos, as described by Moses ; the 
formation of the sun, the moon, and the stars. 



38 PROP. IV. AUTHENTICITY OF THE 

and afterwards of man himself; the dominion 
given him over other animals ; the completion 
of this great work in six days ; the destruction 
of the world by a deluge ; the circumstances 
of the ark and the dove ; the punishment of 
Sodom by fire ; the ancient rite of circum- 
cision ; many particulars relating to Moses, 
the giving of the law, and the Jewish ritual ; 
the names of David and Solomon, and their 
leagues with the Tyrians ; these things, and 
many others of the same sort, are expressly 
mentioned, or plainly alluded to, in several 
Pagan authors of the highest antiquity and 
the best credit. And a very bitter enemy of 
the Jews as well as Christians, the Emperor 
Julian, is, by the force of evidence, compelled 
to confess, that there were many persons among 
the Jews divinely inspired ; and that fire from 
heaven descended on the sacrifices of Moses 
and Elijah. Add to this, that the references 
made to the books of the Old Testament, and 
the passages quoted from them by our Saviour 
and his Apostles, is a plain proof that they 
acknowledged the authority of those writings, 
and the veracity of their authors. 

It is true, indeed, that in the historical 
books of the Old Testament, there are some 



OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 39 

bad characters and bad actions recorded, and 
some very cruel deeds described; but these 
things are mentioned as mere historical facts, 
and by no means approved or proposed as ex- 
amples to others. And excepting these passages, 
which are comparatively few in number, the 
rest of those sacred books, more especially Deu- 
teronomy, the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, 
and the Prophets, are full of very sublime re- 
presentations of God and his attributes; of very 
excellent rules for the conduct of life, and 
examples of almost every virtue that can adorn 
human nature. And these things were written 
at a time when all the rest of the world, even 
the wisest, and most learned, and most cele- 
brated nations of the earth, were sunk in the 
grossest ignorance of G-od and religion ; were 
worshipping idols and brute beasts, and indulg- 
ing themselves in the most abominable vices. 
It is a most singular circumstance, that a people 
in a remote, obscure corner of the world, very 
inferior to several heathen nations in learning, 
in philosophy, in genius, in science, and all the 
polite arts, should yet be so infinitely their su- 
periors in their ideas of the Supreme Being, and 
in every thing relating to morality and religion. 
This can no otherwise be accounted for, than 



40 PROP. IV. AUTHENTICITY OF THE 

on the supposition of their having been in- 
structed in these things by God himself, or by 
persons commissioned and inspired by him ; 
that is, of their having been really favoured 
with those divine revelations which are re- 
corded in the books of the Old Testament. 

With respect to the prophecies which 
they contain, the truth of a great part of 
these has been infallibly proved by the exact 
fulfilment of them in subsequent ages, such 
as those relating to our Saviour (which will 
be hereafter specified), to Babylon, to Egypt, 
to Edom, to Tyre and Sidon. But those 
which refer more particularly to the dis- 
persion of the Jews are so very nume- 
rous and clear; and the accomplishment of 
them, in the present state of the Jews, is a 
fact which obtrudes itself, at this moment, 
so irresistibly upon our senses, that I cannot 
forbear presenting to the reader some of the 
most remarkable of those predictions, as 
they are drawn together by a most able 
writer. 

It was foretold by Moses, that when the Jews 
forsook the true God, "they should be removed 
into all the kingdoms of the earth, should be 
scattered among the heathen, among all people. 



OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 41 

from the one end of the earth even unto the 
other; should become an astonishment, a pro- 
verb, and a bye- word among all nations ; and 
that among those nations they should find no 
ease, neither should the sole of their foot 
have rest; but the Lord should give them 
a trembling heart, and fading of eyes, and 
sorrow of mind, and send a faintness into 
their hearts in the land of their enemies ; so that 
the sound of a shaken leaf should chase them."* 
The same things are continually predicted 
through all the following prophets : "That God 
would disperse them through the countries of 
the heathen ; that he would sift them among all 
nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve ; that in 
all the kingdoms of the earth, whither they 
should be driven, they should be a reproach and 
a proverb, a taunt and a curse, and an asto- 
nishment and a hissing ; and that they should 
abide many days without a king, and without 
a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without 
an image, and without an ephod, and without 
teraphim." f 

* Deut. xxviii.. 25. Lev. xxvi. 33. Dent. iv. 27. 
Deut. xxviii. 64. Deut. xxviii. 37. Deut. xxviii. 65. 
Lev. xxvi. 36. 

f Ezek. xx. 13 ; xi. 15. Amos, ix. 9. Jer. xxiv. 9 ; 
xxix. 18. Hosea, iii. 4. 



42 PROP. IV. AUTHENTICITY OF THE 

Had any thing like this, in the time of 
Moses or of the prophets, ever happened 
to any nation in the world? Or was there 
in nature any probability that any such thing 
should ever happen to any people ? That 
when they were conquered by their enemies, 
and led into captivity, they should neither 
continue in the place of their captivity, nor 
be swallowed up and lost among their con- 
querors, but be scattered among all the na^ 
tions of the world, and hated and persecuted 
by all nations for many ages, and yet con- 
tinue a distinct people ? Or could any des- 
cription of the Jews, written at this day, be 
a more exact and lively picture of the state 
they have now been in for many ages, than 
these prophetic descriptions, especially that 
of Moses, given more than 3000 years ago ? * 



ANALYSIS. 

Variety of compositions contained in the Old Testa- 
ment. Authenticity of these books. Integrity of the 
text proved — 1. From the care taken of the original 
MSS., and the publicity given to their contents. 2. From 
the agreement between the ancient versions and the He- 
brew original. 3. From the remarkable fidelity displayed 

* Clarke's Evidences, pp. 176, 277. 



OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 43 

by the Jews as guardians of their sacred books. 4. From 
the present state of the prophetical writings. 5. From 
the absence of all accusation on this point among the 
charges brought by our Saviour against the Scribes and 
Pharisees. 

The statements which they contain, not less true and 
faithful. First proof of this — The agreement of the sacred 
writers with the most ancient heathen authors. Illustra- 
tion. Second proof — The reluctant confession of Julian 
that they were divinely inspired. Third — The acknow- 
ledgment of their authority and truth implied in the refe- 
rences and quotations of our Saviour and his Apostles. 

Allowed that in the historical books some bad characters 
and bad actions are recorded. These passages compara- 
tively few. In what light they are to be regarded. Im- 
portant nature of the remaining portions. State of the 
world at the time when these were written. Eemarkable 
superiority of the Jews in morality and religion to heathen 
nations of greater learning and refinement than them- 
selves. Divine inspiration of their instructors the only 
supposition on which this can be accounted for. 

Truth of the prophetical writings proved by their fulfil- 
ment in the history of our Saviour, of Babylon, Egypt, 
Edom, Tyre, Sidon, and, more particularly, in dispersion 
of the Jews. Predictions of Moses, Ezekiel, Amos, Jere- 
miah, and Hosea, respecting this people. Such prophecies 
unwarranted by previous experience, and in their nature 
altogether improbable — yet fulfilled, and still fulfilling, 
with most minute exactness. 



QUESTIONS. 

1. State the fourth proposition. 

2. Of what does that part of the Bible which is called 
the Old Testament consist ? 

3. Is there any reason to doubt that these books were 



44 PROP. IV. AUTHENTICITY OP THE 

all written by the persons to whom they are respectively 
ascribed ? Why ? 

4. What ground have we for believing that in their 
transmission to us they have escaped all mutilation and 
corruption ? 

5. What proof of their integrity and purity is afforded 
by the Samaritan version of the Pentateuch ? 

6. What, by the Septuagint translation, and the final 
dispersion of the Jews ? 

7. What, by the care which they took of their sacred 
writings ? 

8. From what circumstance is it evident that they have 
not corrupted any of their prophetical writings ? 

9. By what is their credit still further established ? 

10. Is it equally certain that they give a true and 
faithful account of the various matters which they con- 
tain? 

11. What is the first proof of this ? 

12. Enumerate some of these. 

13. What is the second proof? 

14. What circumstance supplies an additional proof of 
the authority of these writings, and the veracity of their 
authors ? 

15. Is there any truth in the objection which has been 
made to the Scriptures of the Old Testament, that they 
contain a record of bad characters and bad actions, and 
descriptions of some very cruel deeds ? 

16. With what view are tbese things mentioned by the 
inspired writers ? 

17. Of what, with the exception of these few passages, 
are those sacred books full ? 

18. In what degraded state was the rest of the world 
when these things were written ? 

19. What circumstance strikes the mind as verj- re- 
markable in contrasting the religion and morality of the 
Jews with that of the politest, and most civilised, and 
most learned nations of ancient times ? 



OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. 45 

20. On what supposition alone can this superiority be 
accounted for ? 

21. How has the truth of the prophetical writings been 
demonstrated ? 

22. What prophecies have already received their fulfil- 
ment? 

23. "Which of them are still receiving their accomplish- 
ment? 

24. Eepeat the predictions of Moses respecting this 
people. 

25. Eepeat those of Ezekiel, Amos, Jeremiah, and 



26. "Were such prophecies warranted by previous expe- 
rience, or at all probable in their nature ? 

27. With what exactness have they, notwithstanding, 
been fulfilled ? 



46 prop. v. — Christ's character 



PROPOSITION V. 

THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST, AS REPRESENTED 
IN THE GOSPELS, AFFORDS VERY STRONG 
GROUND FOR BELIEVING THAT HE WAS A 
DIVINE PERSON. 



Encomiums. Praises, panegyrics, commendations. 

Tenor. General course. 

Dispensing. Dealing out, distributing. 

Unadvisedly. Imprudently, rashly, indiscreetly. 

Doctrines. Principles or truths. 

Precepts. Commandments, rules of conduct. 

Inculcated. Impressed or enforced on the mind by fre- 
quent admonitions. 

Parable. " A continued narrative of a fictitious event, 
applied by way of simile to the illustration of some 
important truth." — Lowth. 

Insidious. Intended to insnare. 

Conception. Apprehension of anything by the mind. 

Eepugnant. Contrary, opposite. 

Authorised. Endowed with power or authority. 

Recompense. To compensate ; to make up by something 
equivalent. 

Preposterous. Perverse or perverted, absurd, monstrous. 



Whoever considers with attention the cha- 
racter of our blessed Lord, as it may be 
collected from the various incidents and 



EVIDENCE OF HIS DIVINITY. 47 

actions of his life, (for there are no laboured 
descriptions of it, no encomiums upon it by 
his own disciples,) will soon discover that it 
was, in every respect, the most perfect that 
ever was made known to mankind. If we 
only say of him what even Pilate said 
of him, and what his bitterest enemies can- 
not and do not deny, that we can find no 
fault in him, and that the whole tenor of his 
life was entirely blameless throughout, this is 
more than can be said of any other person 
that ever came into the world. But this is 
going a very little way indeed in the excel- 
lence of his character. He was not only free 
from every failing, but possessed and practised 
every imaginable virtue. Towards his hea- 
venly Father he expressed the most ardent 
love, the most fervent yet rational devotion ; 
and displayed in his whole conduct the most 
absolute resignation to his will, and obedience 
to his commands. His manners were gentle, 
mild, condescending, and gracious : his heart 
overflowed with kindness, compassion, and 
tenderness to the whole human race. The 
great employment of his life was to do good 
to the bodies and souls of men. In this 
all his thoughts and all his time were con- 



48 prop. v. — Christ's character 

stantly and almost incessantly occupied. He 
went about dispensing his blessings to all 
around him in a thousand different ways; 
healing diseases, relieving infirmities, correct- 
ing errors, removing prejudices, promoting 
piety, justice, charity, peace, harmony among 
men, and crowding into the narrow compass 
of his ministry, more acts of mercy and com- 
passion than the longest life of the most bene- 
volent man upon earth ever yet produced. 
Over his own passions he had obtained the 
most complete command ; and though his 
patience was continually put to the severest 
trials, yet he was never once overcome, never 
once betrayed into any intemperance or excess 
in word or deed, "never once spake unadvised- 
ly with his lips." He endured the cruellest 
insults from his enemies with the utmost com- 
posure, meekness, patience, and resignation ; 
displayed the most astonishing fortitude under 
a most painful and ignominious death; and, 
to crown all, in the very midst of his torments 
on the cross, implored forgiveness for his 
murderers in that divinely charitable prayer, 
"Father, forgive them, for they know not 
what they do." 

Nor was his wisdom inferior to his vir- 



EVIDENCE OF HIS DIVINITY. 49 

tues. The doctrines he taught were the 
most sublime and the most important that 
were ever before delivered to mankind, and 
every way worthy of that God, from whom 
he professed to derive them, and whose son 
he declared himself to be. 

His precepts inculcated the purest and 
most perfect morality ; his discourses were 
full of dignity and wisdom, yet intelligible 
and clear; his parables conveyed instruc- 
tion in the most pleasing, familiar, and im- 
pressive manner ; and his answers to the 
many insidious questions that were put to 
him, showed uncommon quickness of concep- 
tion, soundness of judgment, and presence of 
mind, completely baffled all the artifices and 
malice of his enemies, and enabled him to 
elude all the snares that were laid for him. 
It appears, then, even from this short and 
imperfect sketch of our Saviour's character, 
that he was, beyond comparison, the wisest 
and most virtuous person that ever appeared ; 
and even his bitterest enemies allow that he 
was so. If, then, he was confessedly so great 
and so good a man, it unavoidably follows, 
that he must be what he pretended to be. a 
divine person, and of course his religion also 



50 prop. v. — Christ's character 

must be divine; for he certainly laid claim 
to a divine original. He asserted that he was 
the Son of God ; that he and his religion came 
from heaven ; and that he had the power of 
working miracles. If this was not the case, he 
must, in a matter of infinite importance, have 
asserted what had no foundation in truth. But 
is such a supposition as this in the smallest 
degree credible 1 ? Is it probable, is it con- 
ceivable, is it consistent with the general con- 
duct of man ? Is it reconcileable with the 
acknowledged character of our Lord, to sup- 
pose that any thing but truth could proceed 
from him whom his very enemies allow to 
have been in every respect (and of course in 
point of veracity) the best and most virtuous 
of men? "Was it ever known, is there a 
single instance to be produced in the history 
of mankind, of any one so unblemished in 
morals as Christ confessedly was, persisting 
for so great a length of time as he did in 
assertions, which, if untrue, would be repug- 
nant to the clearest principles of morality, and 
most fatal in their consequences to those he 
loved best, his followers and his friends ? Is 
it possible, that the pure, the upright, the 
pious, the devout, the meek, the gentle, the 



EVIDENCE OF HIS DIVINITY. 51 

humane, the merciful Jesus, could engage 
multitudes of innocent and virtuous people 
in the belief and support of a religion which 
he knew must draw on them persecution, 
misery, and death, unless he had been author- 
ised by God himself to establish that religion ; 
and unless he was conscious that he possessed 
the power of amply recompensing those who 
preferred his religion to every other consider- 
ation? The common sense and common 
feelings of mankind must revolt at such a 
preposterous idea. 

It follows, then, that Christ was, in truth, 
a divine teacher, and his religion the gift of 
God. 



ANALYSIS. 

Our Lord's character, as deducible from the incidents 
and actions of his life, the most perfect that was ever 
made known to men. Negatively, blameless. This allowed 
by his bitterest enemies. Positively, possessed of every 
virtue. This illustrated by his love, devotion, resigna- 
tion, obedience to his heavenly Father; his gentleness, 
mildness, condescension, kindness, compassion, and tender- 
ness to the human race ; the beneficence of his whole life 
spent in dispensing blessings to all around ; his self-com- 
mand, meekness, patience under suffering ; his fortitude 
under pain and ignominy, and forgiveness in the midst of 



52 prop. v. — Christ's character 

His wisdom not inferior to his virtues. This exemplified 
in the doctrines He taught, the precepts He inculcated, 
and the answers He gave to the many insidious questions 
of His enemies. Christ, then, the wisest and most virtu- 
ous person that ever appeared ; hence unavoidably follows 
the divinity of his person and of his religion. He himself 
asserted the divinity of both ; if this was not the case, His 
assertion was false. Such a supposition inconsistent with 
general conduct of man, irreconcileable with acknowledged 
character of our Lord, unparalleled in history of human 
inconsistency. Besides, the merciful Jesus never could 
have engaged the companions and friends whom He loved 
in the belief and propagation of a religion which was to 
involve them in persecution, misery, and death, had He 
not received authority from God himself to establish it, 
and known that He possessed the power of amply recom- 
pensing His sincere and devoted followers. Christ, there- 
fore, a divine teacher, and his religion the gift of God. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. State the fifth proposition. 

2. What estimate of the character of Christ are we war- 
ranted to form from an attentive consideration of the in- 
cidents and actions of his life ? 

3. What opinion of it was publicly expressed by Pilate, 
and remains uncontradicted by his bitterest enemies ? 

4. Was it only distinguished by its negative excellence ? 

5. How did he discharge his duties towards God ? 

6. What was his demeanour towards his fellow-men ? 

7. What was. the great employment of his life ? 

8. In what various ways did he exercise his benefi- 
cence ? 

9. What control did he exercise over his passions? 
10. How did he display his patience, fortitude, and for- 
giving disposition ? 






EVIDENCE OF HIS DIVINITY. 53 

11. Was he as conspicuous for wisdom as for exalted 
virtue ? 

12. Of what nature were his doctrines ? 

13. — His precepts, discourses, and parables ? 

14. — The answers which he gave to the artful questions 
of his enemies ? 

15. What conclusion must we draw even from this 
brief and imperfect outline of our Saviour's character ? 

16. Since he was confessedly so great and so good a 
man, what unavoidably follows ? And why ? 

17. What did he assert of himself ? 

18. If this was not the case, what must we necessarily 
suppose him to have done ? 

19. With what is such a supposition utterly incon- 
sistent ? 

20. With what is it irreconcileable ? 

21. Can any thing parallel to it be produced in the his- 
tory of human inconsistency ? 

22. On what ground alone can we believe that so pure, 
and holy, and merciful a being, could engage his followers 
and the friends whom he loved, in the belief and support 
of a religion that was to involve them in poverty and suf- 
fering, and death itself? 

23. What necessarily follows from these considerations ? 



54 prop. vi. — Christ's doctrines 



PROPOSITION VI. 

THE SUBLIMITY OF OUR LORD'S DOCTRINES, 
AND THE PURITY OF HIS MORAL PRECEPTS, 
CONFIRM THE BELIEF OF HIS DIVINE MIS- 
SION. 



Sublimity. Loftiness of sentiment. 

Infinite. Having no boundaries or limits. 

Providential Care. Divine superintendence. 

In Spirit and in Truth ; that is, with the mind, the soul, 
the heart, not with rites and ceremonies, sacrifices, 
and the pomp of external worship. 

Model. A copy or pattern to be imitated. 

Capacity. Fitness or suitableness to enjoy. 

Mediation. Interposition, intervention ; agency between 
parties at variance, with a view to their reconciliation. 

Atonement. Expiation made by the obedience and suffer- 
ings of Christ. 

Deserts. That which is deserved or merited. 

Momentous. Of great importance. 

Deduced. Derived, inferred. 

Social. Relating to society. 



There is no where to be found such impor- 
tant information, and such just and noble 
sentiments concerning God and Religion, as 
in the Scriptures of the New Testament. 



CONFIRM HIS DIVINE MISSION. 55 

They teach us, in the first place, that there 
is one Almighty Being, who created all things, 
of infinite power, wisdom, justice, mercy, good- 
ness; that he is the governor and preserver 
of this world, which he has made ; that his 
providential care is over all his works ; and 
that he more particularly regards the affairs 
and conduct of men. They teach us, that we 
are to worship this great being in spirit and 
in truth ; and that the love of him is the first 
and great commandment, the source and spring 
of all virtue. They teach us, more parti- 
cularly, how to pray to him, and for that pur- 
pose supply us with a form of prayer, called 
the Lord's Prayer, " which is a model of calm 
and rational devotion, and which, for its con- 
ciseness, its clearness, its suitableness to every 
condition, and for the weight, solemnity, and 
real importance of its petitions, is without an 
equal or a rival."* They teach us, moreover, 
what we all feel to be true, that the human 
heart is weak and corrupt ; that man is fallen 
from his original innocence, that he is restored, 
however, to the favour of God, and the ca- 
pacity of happiness, by the death, and medi- 
ation, and atonement of Christ, who is the 
* Paler. 



56 prop, vi. — Christ's doctrines 

Way, the Truth, and the Life ; and that he 
will be assisted in his sincere, though imper- 
fect, endeavours after holiness, by the influence 
of God's holy Spirit. 

They assure us, in fine, that the soul does 
not perish with the body, but shall pass, after 
death, into another world ; that all mankind 
shall rise from the grave, and stand before 
the Judgment-seat of Christ, who shall reward 
the virtuous, and punish the wicked, in a 
future and eternal state of existence, according 
to their deserts. 

These are great, and interesting, and mo- 
mentous truths, either wholly unknown, or 
but very imperfectly known to the world 
before ; and they render the meanest peasant 
in this country better acquainted with the 
nature of the Supreme Being, and the relation 
in which we stand to him, than were any of 
the greatest sages of ancient times. 

Equally excellent, and superior to all other 
rules of life, are the moral precepts of the 
Gospel. 

Our divine Master, in the first place, laid 
down two great leading principles for our con- 
duct, love to God, and love to mankind ; and 
thence deduced (as occasions offered, and in- 



CONFIRM HIS DIVINE MISSION. 57 

cidents occurred, which gave peculiar force 
and energy to his instructions,) all the prin- 
cipal duties towards God, our neighbour, and 
ourselves. 

With respect to God, we are commanded 
to love, fear, worship, and obey him ; to set 
him always before us ; to do all things to his 
glory ; to seek first his kingdom and his 
righteousness ; to resign ourselves wholly to 
his pleasure, and submit with patience, cheer- 
fulness, and resignation, to every thing he 
thinks fit to bring upon us. 

With regard to our neighbour, we are to 
exercise towards him the duties of charity, 
justice, equity, and truth ; we are to love him 
as ourselves, and to do unto all men as we 
would they should do unto us ; a most ad- 
mirable rule, which comprehends the sum and 
substance of all social virtue, and which no 
man can mistake. 

As to those duties which concern ourselves, 
we are commanded to keep ourselves unspotted 
from the world, to be temperate in all things, 
to keep under our body, and bring it into 
subjection, to preserve an absolute command 
over all our passions, and to live soberly, 
righteously, and godly in this present world. 



58 prop. vi. — Christ's doctrines 

These are the general directions given for 
our conduct in the various situations and rela- 
tions of life. More particular injunctions are 
given in various parts of Scripture, especially 
in our Saviour's admirable Sermon from the 
Mount, where we find a multitude of most 
excellent rules of life, short, sententious, 
solemn, and important, full of wisdom and 
dignity, yet intelligible and clear. But the 
principal excellence of the Gospel morality, 
and that which gives it an infinite superiority 
over all other moral instructions, is this, that 
it prefers a meek, yielding, complying, forgiv- 
ing temper, to that violent, overbearing, inflex- 
ible, imperious disposition, which prevails so 
much in the world; that it regulates not 
merely our actions, but our affections and our 
inclinations; and places the check to licen- 
tiousness exactly where it ought to be, that 
is, on the heart; that it forbids us to covet 
the praise of men in our devotions, our alms, 
and all our other virtues ; that it gives lead- 
ing rules and principles for all the relative 
duties of life ; of husbands and wives, of 
parents and children, of masters and servants, 
of Christian teachers and their disciples, of 
governors and subjects ; that it commands us 



CONFIRM HIS DIVINE MISSION. 59 

to be, as it were, lights in the world, and 
examples of good to all; to injure no man, 
but to bear injuries patiently ; never to seek 
revenge, but return good for evil; to love 
our very enemies, and to forgive others, 
as we hope to be forgiven ; to raise our 
thoughts and views above the present' life, and 
to fix our affections principally on that which 
is to come. 

But besides all this, the manner in which 
our Lord delivered all his doctrines and all 
his precepts ; the concise, sententious, solemn, 
weighty maxims, into which he generally com- 
pressed them ; the easy, familiar, natural, pa- 
thetic parables in which he sometimes clothed 
them ; that divine authority, and those awful 
sanctions with which he enforced them ; these 
circumstances give a weight, and dignity, and 
importance to the precepts of Holy Writ, 
which no other moral rules can boast. 

If now we ask, as it is very natural to 
ask, who that extraordinary person could be, 
that was the author of such uncommonly 
excellent morality as this ? The answer 
is, that he was, to all outward appearance, 
the reputed son of a carpenter, living with 
his father and mother in a remote and ob- 



60 prop. vi. — Christ's doctrines 

scure corner of the world, till the time that 
he assumed his public character. " Whence, 
then, had this man these things, and what 
wisdom is this that was given unto him ? " He 
had evidently none of the usual means or op- 
portunities of cultivating his understanding, or 
improving his mind. He was born in a low and 
indigent condition, without education, with- 
out learning, without any ancient stores from 
whence to draw his wisdom and his morality, 
that were at all likely to fall into his hands. 
You may, perhaps, in some of the Greek or 
Roman writers, pick out a few of his precepts, 
or something like them. But what does this 
avail? Those writers he had never read. 
He had never studied at Athens or at Rome ; 
he had no knowledge of orators or philoso- 
phers. He understood, probably, no language 
but his own, and had nothing to give him juster 
notions of virtue and religion, than the rest of 
his countrymen and persons in his humble rank 
of life usually had. His fellow labourers in this 
undertaking, the persons who assisted him dur- 
ing his life, and into whose hands his religion 
came after his death, were a few fishermen 
on the Lake of Tiberias, as unlearned and 
uneducated, and, for the purpose of framing 



CONFIRM HIS DIVINE MISSION. 61 

rules of morality, as unpromising as himself. 
Is it possible, then, that such men as these 
could, without any assistance whatever, pro- 
duce such perfect and incomparable rules of 
life as those of the Gospel ; so greatly supe- 
rior in purity, solidity, perspicuity, and uni- 
versal usefulness, to all the moral lessons of 
all the philosophers upon earth put together ? 
Every man of common sense must see that 
this is absolutely impossible; and that there 
is no other conceivable way of accounting for 
this, than by admitting what these persons 
constantly affirmed, that their doctrines and 
their precepts came from the Fountain of all 
Perfection ; that is, from God himself. 



ANALYSIS. 

Eeligions information imparted by the New Testament of 
paramount importance ; its doctrine respecting the unity 
and attributes of God, the creator, preserver, and governor 
of all things — the worship and love we owe to him — the 
manner in which we should pray to him — the corruption 
and degeneracy of our nature — the means of restoration to 
the favour of the Divine Being — the aid that will be 
granted to sincere aspirers after holiness — the immortality 
of the soul — and a final judgment. These momentous 
truths previously unknown, or very imperfectly revealed 
to the world. Consequent superiority of the poorest pea- 
sant in our times to the greatest sages of antiquity. 



62 prop. vi. — Christ's doctrines 

Its moral precepts equally excellent, and superior to all 
other rules of life. Two leading principles laid down for 
conduct — love to God, and love to man. From these de- 
duced our duties in the various situations and relations of 
life. 1. Our duties towards God — love, fear, worship, obe- 
dience, &c. 2. Our duties to our fellow-men — charity, 
justice, equity, truth, &c. 3. Our duties to ourselves — 
purity, temperance, self-denial, government of the pas- 
sions, &c. More particular injunctions given in various 
places, especially in our Saviour's sermon from the Mount. 
Circumstances in which the principal excellence of Gospel 
morality consists, and which give it an infinite superiority 
over all other systems of Ethics — the temper which it 
prefers — the comprehensiveness and spirituality of its regu- 
lations and prohibitions — the purity and disinterestedness 
of its motives — the universality of its rules and principles 
for the relative duties of life — the patience under injuries — 
the forgiveness and love of enemies which it enjoins — the 
contempt of the present world which it recommends, and 
the fixing of our affections on a future and a better. 

The manner, also, of our Lord's delivery, the maxims 
and parables in which he conveyed his instructions, and 
the authority and sanctions with which he enforced them, 
impart to them a peculiar dignity and importance. 

The author of these sublime doctrines and this uncom- 
monly excellent morality, the reputed son of a carpenter, 
born and reared in poverty and meanness, without educa- 
tion, without learning, without the usual means of culti- 
vating his understanding or improving his mind, and 
having no mode of acquiring juster notions of morality 
and religion than the rest of his countrymen in the same 
humble rank of life; his coadjutors a few fishermen, as 
unlearned, uneducated, and, humanly speaking, as unqua- 
lified for the office as himself — Impossibility of such men 
producing, without aid, a code of morals so greatly supe- 
rior to all the moral lessons of all the philosophers that 
have ever lived. No way of accounting for this, but by 



CONFIRM HIS DIVINE MISSION. 63 

admitting that their doctrines and their precepts came 
from God. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. State the sixth proposition. 

2. In what writings are the most important information 
and the most worthy and exalted sentiments concerning 
God and religion to be found ? 

3. What do they teach us of the nature, attributes, and 
administration of the Divine Being ? 

4. Of the worship and the love we owe to him ? 

5. Of the manner in which we should pray to him ? 

6. Of the corruption and depravity of our nature ? 

7. Of the means of restoration to the favour of God ? 

8. Of the assistance vouchsafed to our sincere endea- 
vours after holiness ? 

9. Of the immortality of the soul ? 

10. Of a final judgment ? 

11. Were these great and interesting truths previously 
known to the world ? 

12. What superiority do even the humblest amongst us 
derive from the knowledge of them ? 

13. Are the moral precepts of the Gospel as remarkable 
for their excellence ? 

14. What great leading principles did our Divine 
Master lay down for our conduct ? 

15. What did he deduce from these, as occasions 
offered ? 

16. Mention some of the duties we are commanded to 
perform with respect to God. 

17. The duties we are enjoined to exercise with regard 
to our neighbour. 

18. The duties which concern ourselves. 

19. Where are more particular directions for our con- 
duct given ? 

20. With Avhat does that abound ? 



64 prop. vi. — Christ's doctrines. 

21. What constitutes the principal excellence of the 
Gospel morality, and gives it an infinite superiority over 
all other moral instructions ? 

22. For what relative duties, amongst others, does it 
furnish leading rules and principles ? 

23. What circumstances impart a -peculiar dignity and 
importance to the doctrines and precepts of our Lord? 

24. Who was the author of such uncommonly excellent 
morality as this ? 

25. In what circumstances was he born and brought 
up, and what opportunities did he enjoy of cultivating his 
understanding or improving his mind ? 

26. Had he any means of acquiring (from the philoso- 
phical writings of other nations, or in any other way,) 
juster notions of morality and religion than his country- 
men in the same humble sphere of life entertained ? 

27. Who were his fellow-labourers in this undertaking 
during his life, and the disseminators of his doctrines and 
precepts after his death ? 

28. Is it possible that such men could, without assis- 
tance, produce rules of life so perfect and so greatly supe- 
rior to all the moral lessons of ancient and modern philo- 
sophy ? 

29. What is the only other conceivable way of account- 
ing for this ? 



65 



PROPOSITION VII. 

THE RAPID AND SUCCESSFUL PROPAGATION 
OF THE GOSPEL BY THE FIRST TEACHERS 
OF IT, THROUGH A LARGE PART OF THE 
WORLD, IS A PROOF THAT THEY WERE FA- 
VOURED WITH DIVINE ASSISTANCE AND SUP- 
PORT. 



Propagation. Increase, enlargement, diffusion. 

Ascension. The visible elevation of our Saviour to 
heaven. 

Baptized. Admitted into the Christian Church, on pro- 
fession of their faith in Christ, by the rite of baptism, 
by the " -washing with water." 

Superstition. See Prop. I. 

Suspended. Interrupted. 

Barbarians. Uncivilised, untaught, savage men. 

Clans. Tribes. 

Seconded. Aided, assisted. 

Potentates. Monarchs, princes, sovereigns. 

Inveterate. Old, long established, of long standing. 

Promulgated. Published, taught openly. 

Illiterate. Untaught, unlearned, unenlightened by 
science. 

Unprecedented. Warranted by no previous example. 



We find in the Acts of the Apostles, and in 
their Epistles, that the number of converts 



66 PROP. VII. RAPID SPREAD OF THE 

to the Christian Religion began to increase 
considerably, almost immediately after our 
Saviour's ascension, and continued increasing 
to an astonishing degree, through every age, 
till the final establishment of Christianity 
by Constantine. The first assembly which 
we meet with of Christ's disciples, and that 
a few days after his removal from the world, 
consisted of 120.* About a week after 
this, 3000 were added in one day ; | and 
the number of Christians publicly baptised, 
and publicly associating together, were very 
soon increased to 5000. J In a few years 
after this, the converts were described as in- 
creasing in great numbers, in great multitudes, 
and even in myriads, tens of thousands : § 
and multitudes both of men and women con- 
tinued to be added daily ; so that within about 
thirty years after our Lord's death, the Gospel 
was spread not only throughout almost all 
parts of the Roman empire, but even to Par- 
thia and India. It appears from the Epistles 
written to several churches by the Apostles, 
that there were large congregations of Chris- 
tians, both at Rome and in all the principal 

* Acts, i. 15. f Acts, ii. 41. 

X Acts, iv. 4. § Acts, xxi. 20. 



GOSPEL, EVIDENCE OF DIVINE SUPPORT. 67 

cities of Greece and Asia. This account is con- 
firmed by contemporary Roman historians; and 
Pliny, about eighty years after the Ascension, 
complains that this superstition^ as he calls it, 
had seized, not cities only, but the lesser towns 
also, and the open country ; that the Pagan 
temples were almost deserted, the sacred solem- 
nities suspended, and scarce any purchasers to 
be found for the victims. About twenty years 
after this, Justin Martyr, a Christian writer, 
declares, that there was no nation of men, 
whether Greeks or Barbarians, not excepting 
even those savages that wandered in clans 
from one region to another, and had no fixed 
habitation, who had not learned to offer 
prayers and thanksgivings to the Father and 
Maker of all, in the name of Jesus who was 
crucified. And thus the church of Christ 
went on increasing more and more, till, under 
Constantine, the empire became Christian ; 
at which time there is every reason to believe 
that the Christians were more numerous and 
more powerful than the Pagans. 

In what manner, now, can we account for 

* The very name by which modern Pagans as well as 
their predecessors, the ancient Heathens, describe the 
Christian Religion. 



68 PROP. VII. RAPID SPREAD OF THE 

this wonderful and unexampled progress of 
the Christian Religion ? 

If this religion had set out with flattering 
the corrupt passions of mankind, and held up 
to them the prospect of power, wealth, rank, 
or pleasure, as the rewards of their conversion ; 
if it had soothed their vices, humoured their 
prejudices, and encouraged their ancient su- 
perstitions ; if the persons who taught it had 
been men of brilliant talents, or commanding 
eloquence ; if they had first proposed it in 
times of darkness and ignorance, and among 
savage and barbarous nations ; if they had 
been seconded by all the influence and autho- 
rity of the great potentates of the earth, or 
propagated their doctrines at the head of a 
victorious army, one might have seen some 
reason for their extraordinary success. 

But it is well known that the very re- 
verse of all this was the real truth of the 
case. It is well known that the first preachers 
of the Gospel declared open war against all 
the follies, the vices, the interests, the in- 
veterate prejudices, and favourite supersti- 
tions of the world ; that they were (with 
few exceptions) men of no abilities, no learn- 
ing, no artificial rhetoric or powers of per- 



GOSPEL, EVIDENCE OF DIVINE SUPPORT. 69 

suasion : that their doctrines were promul- 
gated in an enlightened age, and to the most 
polished nations, and had all the wit and 
learning, and eloquence and philosophy of the 
world to contend with : and that, instead of 
being aided by the authority and influence of 
the civil powers, they were opposed, and har- 
assed, and persecuted by them, even to death, 
with the most unrelenting cruelty ; and all 
those who embraced their doctrines were 
exposed to the same hardships and suffer- 
ings. 

Is it now credible, that, under these cir- 
cumstances, twelve poor illiterate fishermen of 
Galilee should be able, merely by their own 
natural powers, to spread their new religion 
in so short a space, over so large a part of the 
then known world, without any assistance or 
co-operation from any quarter whatever? 
Did any thing of the kind ever happen in the 
world, before or since ? It is plainly un- 
precedented and impossible. As, therefore, 
all human means of success were against them, 
what else but supernatural means were left for 
them? It is clear almost to demonstration, 
that they must have been endowed with those 
miraculous powers, and favoured with that 



70 PROP. VII. — RAPID SPREAD OF THE 

divine assistance to which they pretended, and 
which of course proved them to be the Mes- 
sengers of Heaven. 



ANALYSIS. 

Converts to Christian religion became more numerous 
immediately after our Saviour's Ascension. Numbers in- 
creased with astonishing rapidity. Under Constantine, i. e. 
about the close of the third century, it became the esta- 
blished religion of the Roman Empire. Disciples of Christ, 
at his removal, amounted to 120. About a week after 
3000 were added. Were very soon increased to 5000. In 
a few years increased in myriads, multitudes being daily 
added. "Within 30 years, Christianity was spread over 
almost all parts of the Roman Empire, and even to Parthia 
and India. This account confirmed by contemporary 
historians, by Pliny 80 years after, and by Justin Martyr 
100 years after the Ascension. Progressive and uninter- 
rupted increase, till under Constantine the empire became 
Christian. 

Circumstances which might have accounted, in some 
measure, for this extraordinary and unexampled success — 
1. Flattering corrupt passions of men. 2. Alluring by 
bright prospects. 3. Conniving at vices, humouring preju- 
dices, encouraging superstitions. 4. Talents or eloquence 
of preachers. 5. Ignorance and barbarity of hearers. 6. 
Co-operation of the great and powerful. 

The very reverse of all this the real truth of the case. 
Christianity at war with follies, vices, prejudices, super- 
stitions ; its preachers men of no abilities, learning, or per- 
suasive power ; the age enlightened, nations highly po- 
lished ; opposed by wit, learning, eloquence, and philo- 



GOSPEL, EVIDENCE OF DIVINE SUPPORT. 71 

sophy ; harassed and persecuted by civil power with unre- 
lenting cruelty. 

Such success, under such circumstances, unprecedented, 
and impossible. All human means against them, only 
supernatural means left them. Must have been endowed 
with miraculous powers, and favoured with Divine as- 
sistance, which proves them to be the Messengers of 
Heaven. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. State the seventh proposition. 

2. What do we learn of the progress and continued in- 
crease of the Christian religion from the Acts of the 
Apostles and their Epistles ? 

3. Of what number did the first assembly of Christ's 
disciples consist ? 

4. How many were added in one day about a week after 
this? 

5. To what was the number of Christians, publicly bap- 
tized and publicly associating together, very scon after 
increased ? 

6. In what terms is the Church a few years after this 
described ? 

7. To what extent was the Gospel spread in less than 
30 years after our Saviour's death ? 

8. What evidence of its extensive diffusion do we find 
in the Epistles of the Apostles ? 

9. From whom does this account receive confirma- 
tion? 

10. In what terms is it confirmed by Pliny the younger ? 

11. How long after the Ascension was this ? 

12. What does Justin Martyr, about 20 years after this, 
declare ? 

13. In what did this rapid and uninterrupted increase 
result about the close of the third century ? 

14. What proportion did the Christian then bear to the 
Pagan population ? 



72 RAPID SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL. 

15. To what hypothetical circumstances might the ex- 
traordinary success of the first preachers of the Gospel 
have been ascribed ? 

16. "What was the real truth of the case ? 

17. Against what did they declare open war ? 

18. Of what qualifications were they devoid? 

19. In what state of knowledge and refinement were the 
nations among whom their doctrines were promulgated ? 

20. "With what had they, consequently, to contend ? 

21. To what did the promulgation of their doctrines 
expose them and their converts on the part of the civil 
powers ? 

22. Is it possible that poor illiterate fishermen, in such 
circumstances, could, by their own natural powers, and 
without assistance or co-operation, propagate a new reli- 
gion, in so short a space, over so large a portion of the 
world ? "Was anything of the kind ever achieved before 
or since ? 

23. Since all human means of success were against 
them, what fact is rendered clear almost to demonstra- 
tion? 



73 



PKOPOSITION VIII. 

A COMPARISON BETWEEN CHRIST AND MAHOMET, 
AND THEIR RESPECTIVE RELIGIONS, LEADS 
US TO CONCLUDE, THAT AS THE RELIGION 
OF THE LATTER IS CONFESSEDLY THE INVEN- 
TION OF MAN, THAT OF THE FORMER IS DE- 
RIVED FROM GOD. 



Mahometan or Mohammedan. Of or belonging to 
Mahomet or Mahometanism. 

Mahometanism or Mohammedanism. The religion es- 
tablished by Mahomet. 

Co-existing. Existing at the same time. 

Considerable. Of some distinction. 

Descent. Birth, extraction, lineage. 

Sanguinary. Cruel, bloody. 

Predicted. Foretold. 

Professed. Avowed, openly declared. 

Manifest. Reveal, discover, shew plainly. 

Disclaimed. Denied that he possessed. 

Laboured. Drawn up with nmch study and art. 

Proselyte. One brought over to a new opinion. 

Subverted. Overthrew, overturned. 

Propensities. Inclinations, dispositions, tendencies. 

Renounce. Disown, deny. 

Voluptuous. Abounding with pleasures. 

Paradise. A region of supreme felicity or delight. 

Moslems. Mussulmans, orthodox Mohammedans. 

Vindictive. Revengeful. 



74 PROP. VIII. COMPARISON BETWEEN 

Horde. Multitude. 

Standing. Lasting, abiding, permanent. 
Monotonous. Without variety. 
Discrimination. Distinction, difference. 
Cavils. False or frivolous objections. 
Incontrovertible. Too clear or certain to admit of 
dispute. 



Tltere is a religion in the world, called the 
Mahometan, which is professed in one part 
of Europe, and most parts of Asia and Africa. 
The founder of this religion, Mahomet, pre- 
tended to be a prophet sent from God; but 
it is universally allowed by all who are not 
Mahometans, and who have searched very 
carefully into the pretensions of this teacher, 
that he was an enthusiast and an impostor, 
and that his religion was a contrivance of 
his own. Even those persons who reject 
Christianity, do not think Mahometanism to 
be true; nor do we ever hear of a Deist 
embracing it from conviction. 

Here, then, we have two religions co-exist- 
ing together in the world, and both pretending 
to be revelations from Heaven ; one of these 
we know to be a fraud, the other we affirm and 
believe to be true. If this be so, upon com- 
paring them and their authors together, we 
may expect to find a most marked and essen- 



CHRIST AND MAHOMET. 75 

tial difference between them, such a difference 
as may naturally be supposed to exist between 
an impostor and a divine teacher, between 
truth and falsehood. And this, I apprehend, 
will appear to be actually the case with 
respect to Christ and Mahomet, and their 
respective religions. 

Mahomet was a man of considerable rank 
in his own country; he was the grandson 
of a man of the most powerful and honourable 
family in Mecca, and, though not born to a 
great fortune, he soon acquired one by mar- 
riage. These circumstances would of them- 
selves, without any supernatural assistance, 
greatly contribute to ihe success of his religion. 
A person considerable by his wealth, of high 
descent, and nearly allied to the chiefs of 
his country, taking upon himself the character 
of a religious teacher in an age of ignorance 
and barbarism, could not fail of attracting 
attention and followers. 

Christ did not possess these advantages of 
rank and wealth, and powerful connexions. 
He was born of parents in a very mean con- 
dition of life. His relations and friends were 
all in the same humble situation ; he was bred 
up in poverty, and continued in it all his 



76 PROP. VIII. COMPARISON BETWEEN 

life, having frequently no place where he could 
lay his head. A man so circumstanced was 
not likely, by his own personal influence, 
to force a new religion, much less a false one, 
upon the world. 

Mahomet indulged himself in the grossest 
pleasures. He perpetually transgressed even 
those licentious rules which he had prescribed 
to himself. He made use of the power he had 
acquired, to gratify his passions without con- 
trol, and he laid claim to a special permission 
from heaven to riot in the most unlimited 
sensuality : 

Jesus, on the contrary, preserved through- 
out life the most unblemished purity and 
sanctity of manners. He did no sin, but was 
perfectly holy and undefiled. Not the least 
stain was ever thrown on his moral character, 
by his bitterest enemies. 

Mahomet was violent, impetuous, and san- 
guinary : 

Christ was meek, gentle, benevolent, and 
merciful. 

Mahomet pretended to have secret commu- 
nications with God, and with the angel Gabriel, 
which no other person ever saw or heard : 

Jesus was repeatedly declared to be the 



CHRIST AND MAHOMET. 77 

Son of God by voices from heaven, which 
were plainly and distinctly heard and recorded 
by others. 

The appearance of Mahomet was not fore- 
told by any ancient prophecies, nor was there 
at the time any expectation of such a person 
in that part of the world : 

The appearance of Christ upon earth was 
clearly and repeatedly predicted by several 
ancient prophecies, which most evidently ap- 
plied to him and to no other; and which 
were in the keeping of those who were pro- 
fessed enemies to him and his religion. And 
there was, at the time of his birth, a general 
expectation over all the East, that some great 
and extraordinary personage would then mani- 
fest himself to the world. 

Mahomet never presumed to foretel any 
future events, for this plain reason, because 
he could not foresee them; and had he fore- 
told any thing which did not come to pass, it 
must have entirely ruined his credit with his 
followers : 

Christ foretold many things which did 
actually come to pass, particularly his own 
death and resurrection, and the destruction 

of Jerusalem. 

h2 



78 PROP. VIII. COMPARISON BETWEEN 

Mahomet never pretended to work miracles ; 
on the contrary, he expressly disclaimed any 
such power, and makes several laboured arid 
awkward apologies for not possessing it : 

Jesus, we all know, worked a great num- 
ber of the most astonishing miracles, in the 
open face of day, and in the sight of great 
multitudes of people. He made the deaf to 
hear, the dumb to speak, the lame to walk, 
the blind to see, and even the dead to rise 
from the grave. 

Mahomet, during the first twelve years of 
his mission, made use only of argument and 
persuasion, and in consequence of that gain- 
ed very few converts. In three years he 
made only fourteen proselytes, and in seven, 
only eighty-three men, and eighteen women : 
In the same space of time, our Saviour 
and his apostles converted thousands and tens 
of thousands, and spread the Christian re- 
ligion over a great part of Asia. 

Mahoinet told the Jews, the Christians, and 
the Arabs, that he taught no other religion 
than that which was originally taught to their 
forefathers by Abraham, Ismael, Moses, and 
Jesus. This would naturally prejudice them 
in favour of his religion : 



CHRIST AND MAHOMET. 79 

Christ preached a religion which directly 
opposed the most favourite opinions and pre- 
judices of the Jews, and subverted, from the 
very foundation, the whole system of Pagan 
Superstition. 

Mahomet paid court to the peculiar weak- 
nesses and propensities of his disciples. In 
that warm climate, where all the passions are 
ardent and violent, he allowed them a liberal 
indulgence in sensual gratifications ; no less 
than four wives to each of his followers, with 
the liberty of divorcing them thrice. * 

In the same climate, and among men of the 
same strong passions, Jesus most peremptorily 
restrained all his followers from adultery, 
fornication, and every kind of impurity. He 
confined them to one wife, and forbade di- 
vorce, except for adultery only. But what 
was still more, he required them to govern 
their eyes and their thoughts, and to check 
the very first rising of any criminal desire 
in the soul. He told them, that whoever 
looked upon a woman to lust after her, had 
committed adultery with her already in his 
heart ; and he assured them, that none but 
the pure in heart should see God. He 

* Koran, c. iv. p. 42. lb. c. ii. p. 41. 



80 PROP. VIII. — COMPARISON BETWEEN 

declared open war, in short, against all the 
criminal passions, and evil inclinations of man- 
kind, and expressly required all his followers 
to renounce those favourite sins that did most 
easily beset them ; nay, even to leave father, 
mother, brethren, sisters, houses, lands, and 
every thing that was most dear to them, and 
take up their cross, and follow him. 

With the same view above mentioned, of 
bribing men to embrace his religion, Maho- 
met promised to reward his followers with the 
delights of a most voluptuous paradise, where 
the objects of their affection were to be almost 
innumerable, and all of them gifted with tran- 
scendent beauty and eternal youth. * 

Christ entirely precluded his disciples from 
all hopes of sensual indulgences hereafter, 
assuring them that in heaven they should 
neither marry nor be given in marriage, and 
promising them nothing but pure, celestial, 
spiritual joys, such as eye hath not seen, nor 
ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived. 

Besides the powerful attractions of sensual 
delights, Mahomet had another still more effi- 
cacious mode of producing conviction, and 
gaining proselytes ; and that was force, vio- 
* Koran, c. lvi. p. 413. 



CHRIST AND MAHOMET. 81 

lence, and arms. He propagated his religion 
by the sword ; and till he made use of that 
instrument of conversion, the number of his 
proselytes was a mere nothing. He was at 
once a prophet, a warrior, a general, and 
a conqueror. It was at the head of his 
armies that he preached the Koran. His re- 
ligion and his conquests went on together; 
and the former never advanced one step with- 
out the latter. He commanded in person in 
eight general engagements, and undertook, by 
himself and his lieutenants, fifty military en- 
terprises. Death or conversion was the only 
choice offered to idolaters, and tribute or con- 
version to Jews and Christians. 

Jesus employed no other means of con- 
verting men to his religion, but persuasion, 
argument, exhortation, miracles, and pro- 
phecies. He made use of no other force 
but the force of truth ; no other sword but 
the sword of the spirit, that is the word of 
God. He had no arms, no legions to fight 
his cause. He was the Prince of Peace, and 
preached peace to all the world. Without 
power, without support, without any followers 
but twelve poor humble men, without one cir- 
cumstance of attraction, influence, or compul- 



82 PROP. VIII. — COMPARISON BETWEEN 

sion, he triumphed over the prejudices, the 
learning, the religion of his country ; over 
the ancient rites, idolatry, and superstition ; 
over the philosophy, wisdom, and authority of 
the whole Roman empire. 

The great object of Mahomet was to make 
his followers soldiers, and to inspire them with 
a passion for violence, bloodshed, vengeance, 
and persecution. He was continually exhort- 
ing them to fight for the religion of God ; and, 
to encourage them to do so, he promised them 
the highest honours, and the richest rewards, 
in paradise. " They who have suffered for 
my sake, and have been slain in battle, verily 
I will expiate their evil deeds from them, and 
I will surely bring them into a garden watered 
by rivers, a reward from God, and with God 
is most excellent reward."* This duty of 
warring against infidels is frequently inculcated 
in the Koran, and highly magnified by the 
Mahomedan divines, who call the sword the 
key of heaven and hell, and persuade their 
people that the least drop of blood spilt in 
the way of God, as it is called, is most ac- 
ceptable unto him; and that the defending 
the territories of the Moslems for one night, 
* Koran, c. iii. p. 91. and c. ix. p. 242. 



CHEIST AND MAHOMET. 83 

is of more avail than a fast of two months. * 
It is easy to see to what a degree of fierce- 
ness this must raise all the furious vindictive 
passions of the soul, and what a horde of 
savages and barbarians it must let loose upon 
mankind. 

The directions of Christ to his • disciples 
were of a different temper. He positively 
forbade them the use of any violence whatever. 
The sword that was drawn by one of them 
in his defence he ordered to be sheathed : 
" Put up thy sword within the sheath ; they 
that use the sword shall perish by the 
sword." f He would not consent to bring 
down fire from heaven on the Samaritans, 
who had refused to receive him : " The Son 
of man," he told them, " came not to destroy 
men's lives, but to save them. Peace I leave 
with you ; my peace I give unto you. Do 
violence to no man ; resist not evil. Be ye 
merciful, even as your Father in heaven is 
merciful. Blessed are the merciful, for they 
shall obtain mercy." J 

* Sale's Prelim. Diss. s. 11, p. 189. 
f Matth. xxvi. 52. John, xviii. 11. 
X Luke, ix. 56. John, xiv. 27, Luke, iii. 14. Matth. 
v. 39. Luke, vi. 36. Matth. v. 7. 



84 PROP. VIII. COMPARISON BETWEEN 

The consequence was, that the first fol- 
lowers of Mahomet were men of cruelty and 
violence, living by rapine, murder, and plun- 
der. The first followers of Jesus were men 
of meek, quiet, inoffensive, peaceable manners, 
and in their morals irreproachable and exem- 
plary. 

If, now, after comparing together the authors 
of the two religions we have been consider- 
ing, we take a short view of the sacred books 
of those religions, the Koran and the Gospel, 
we shall find a difference no less striking 
between them ; no less strongly marking the 
truth of the one and the falsehood of the 
other. 

The Koran is highly applauded, both by 
Mahomet himself, and his followers, for the 
exquisite beauty, purity, and elegance of the 
language, which they represent as a standing 
miracle, greater than even that of raising the 
dead. But admitting its excellence (which 
yet has been questioned by several learned 
men), if beauty of style and composition is 
to be considered as a proof of divine inspiration, 
the writings of Plato and Xenophon, of Cicero 
and Caesar, and a multitude of other inimi- 
table writers in various languages, will have 



CHRIST AND MAHOMET. 85 

as just a claim to a miraculous origin as 
the Koran. But, in truth, these graces of 
diction, so far from being a circumstance 
favourable to the Koran, create a strong 
suspicion of its being a human fabrication, 
calculated to charm and captivate men by 
the arts of rhetoric and the fascination of 
words, and thus draw off their attention from 
the futility of its matter and the weakness of 
its pretensions. These are the artifices of 
fraud and falsehood. The Gospel wants them 
not. It disdains the aid of human eloquence, 
and depends solely on the force of truth, 
and the power of God for its success. " I 
came not (as St. Paul sublimely expresses 
himself) with excellency of speech, nor with 
the enticing words of man's wisdom, but in 
demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 
that your faith might not stand in the wisdom 
of men, but in the power of God." * 

But, whatever may be the purity of the 
language, the matter and substance of the 
Koran cannot bear a moment's comparison 
with that of the Gospel. The narrative is 
dull, heavy, monotonous, uninteresting: loaded 
with endless repetitions, with senseless and 
1 Cor. ii. 1, 4. 



86 PROP. VIII. — COMPARISON BETWEEN 

preposterous fables, with trivial, disgusting, 
and even immoral precepts. Add to this, 
that it has very little novelty or originality 
to recommend it, the most material parts of 
it being borrowed from the Scriptures of 
the Old Testament or the New; and even 
these are so disguised and deformed by 
passing through the hands of the impostor 
(who vitiates and debases every thing he 
touches), that you can hardly know them to 
be the same incidents or transactions that you 
read with so much delight in the Bible, 

The Gospel, on the contrary, is every 
where concise, simple, original, animated, in- 
teresting, dignified; its precepts important, 
its morality perfect, its sentiments sublime, 
its views noble and comprehensive, its sanc- 
tions awful ! 

In the Koran, Mahomet is perpetually 
boasting of his own merits and achievements, 
and the supreme excellence of his book. In 
the Gospel, no encomiums are bestowed by the 
Evangelists, either on themselves or their writ- 
ings. Even the virtues of their divine Master 
are not distinctly specified, or brought forward 
into a conspicuous point of view. It is from 
his actions only, and his discourses, not from 



CHRIST AND MAHOMET. 87 

the observations of his historians, that we can 
collect the various transcendent excellencies 
of his character. Here we plainly see the 
sober modesty of truth opposed to the osten- 
tatious vanity of imposture. 

In the description of future rewards and 
punishments, the Koran is minute, circum- 
stantial, and extravagant, both in painting 
the horrors of the one and the delights of 
the other. It describes things which cannot, 
and ought not to be described, and enters 
into details too horrible, or too licentious, 
to be presented to the human mind. 

In the Gospel, the pains and the pleasures 
of a future life are represented concisely, in 
strong, but general and indefinite terms, suffi- 
cient to give them a powerful, but not an 
overwhelming influence over the mind. 

There is still another, and a very material 
mark of discrimination between the Koran 
and the Gospel. Mahomet shows throughout 
the utmost anxiety to guard against objections, 
to account for his working no miracles, and 
to defend his conduct, in several instances, 
against the charges which he suspects may 
be brought against him. This is always the 
case with imposture. It is always suspicious, 



88 PROP. VIII. COMPARISON BETWEEN 

afraid of being detected, alive to every ap- 
pearance of hostility, solicitous to anticipate, 
and eager to repel the accusations of enemies. 

Truth has no occasion for such precautions, 
and therefore never uses them. We see 
nothing of this sort in the Gospel. The 
sacred historians show not the smallest solici- 
tude, nor take the least pains to obviate 
cavils or remove difficulties. They relate 
plainly and simply what they know to be true. 
They entertain no doubt of it themselves, 
and seem to have no suspicion that any one 
else can doubt it; they therefore leave the 
facte to speak for themselves, and send them 
unprotected into the world, to make their 
way (as they have done) by their own native 
force and incontrovertible truth. 

Such are the leading features of Mahomet 
and his religion on the one hand, and of 
Christ and his religion on the other ; and 
never was there a stronger or more striking 
contrast seen than in this instance. They 
are, in short, in every essential article, the 
direct opposites of each other. And as it 
is on all hands acknowledged that Mahomet 
was an impostor, it is fair to conclude 
that Christ, who was the very reverse of 



CHRIST AND MAHOMET. 09 

Mahomet, was the reverse of an impostor, 
that is, a real messenger from heaven. In 
Mahomet we see every distinctive mark of 
fraud : in Jesus, not one of these is to be 
found ; but, on the contrary, every possible 
indication and character of truth. 



ANALYSIS. 

Another religion, the Mahometan, professed in one part 
of Europe, and generally throughout Asia and Africa — 
Mahomet, its founder, pretended to be a prophet sent from 
God — was an enthusiast and impostor, and his religion a 
contrivance of his otvii. This allowed by all who are not 
Mahometans, whether Christians or Deists. Here, then, 
are two co-existent religions, one known to be a fraud, the 
other affirmed and believed to be true. On comparison of 
them and their authors, such difference to be expected 
as exists between truth and falsehood. This actually 
the case. 

Comparison, 1. Of the authors of these two religions. 
Mahomet, a man of rank, fortune, and powerful connec- 
tions. Christ born of parents in very low condition — re- 
lations and friends in same humble situation. All his life in 
poverty. Mahomet licentious and grossly sensual. Christ 
of unblemished purity and sanctity of manners. Maho- 
met violent, impetuous, sanguinary. Christ gentle, bene- 
volent, merciful. Mahomet's pretended communications 
with God and angel Gabriel seen and heard by no one. 
Christ acknowledged by voices from heaven, heard and 
recorded by others. Mahomet's coming not foretold or 
expected. Christ's advent repeatedly predicted, and ge- 
nerally expected over the whole Eastern world. Mahomet 



90 PROP. VIII. — COMPARISON BETWEEN 

presumed to foretel no future events. Christ foretold many 
that were afterwards fulfilled. Mahomet not only wrought 
no miracles, but disclaimed the power. Christ worked a 
great many in open day, and before multitudes. Maho- 
met, using only argument and persuasion, made very few 
converts in twelve years. Christ and his apostles, in same 
space of time, converted tens of thousands. Mahomet 
professed to teach Jews, Christians, and Arabs, the religion 
originally taught them by their respective forefathers. 
Christ preached a religion opposed to the Jewish, and 
utterly subversive of pagan superstition. Mahomet paid 
court to his licentious followers, by liberally indulging 
them in sensual gratifications. Christ peremptorily re- 
strained bis followers from every impurity, and declared 
open war against all criminal passions and evil inclinations. 
Mahomet bribed his followers with promise of a most vo- 
luptuous paradise. Christ promised nothing hereafter, but 
pore, celestial, spiritual joys. Mahomet employed force, 
viol* ace, and arms, and propagated his religion by the 
.sword. Jesus employed no means of conversion but per- 
suasion, argument, exhortation, miracles, and prophecies. 
Great object of Mahomet to make his followers violent, 
blood-thirsty, vindictive, persecuting soldiers. Christ po- 
sitively forbade his disciples the use of any violence what- 
ever. First followers of Mahomet men of cruelty and vio- 
lence. First followers of Jesus quiet and inoffensive in 
their manners, irreproachable and exemplar}- in morals. 

2. Of their sacred books. 

Difference between their sacred books, the Koran and 
the Gospel, no less striking — no less indicative of the truth 
of the one and the falsehood of the other. — 1. Style. 
Koran highly praised for the beauty, purity, and elegance 
of its language. This, even admitting its excellence, 
(which has been questioned,) no proof of Divine inspiration, 
otherwise the writings of many ancient authors have an 
equal claim to a miraculous origin. These graces of dic- 
tion, on the contrarv, are the very circumstances which 



CHRIST AND MAHOMET. 91 

create a strong suspicion of its being a human fabrication. 
Purpose for which they are employed. Gospel needs no 
such artifices, disdains human eloquence, depends for suc- 
cess on force of truth and power of God. St. Paul's decla- 
ration to this effect. 

2. Matter and substance. 

With regard to matter and substance, Koran not to be 
compared with Gospel ; its narrative uninteresting, full of 
endless repetitions, senseless fables, disgusting and immoral 
precepts — bas little novelty or originality — most material 
parts borrowed from the Bible, but so disguised and de- 
formed, as to be with difficulty identified. Gospel concise, 
original, animated, dignified — precepts important, mora- 
lity perfect, sentiments sublime, views noble and compre- 
hensive — sanctions awful. 

In Koran, Mahomet boasts of his merits, achievements, 
and book. In Gospel, no encomiums bestowed on the au- 
thors or their writings — even the excellencies of their Di- 
vine Master's character not specified, but left to be col- 
lected from his actions and discourses. 

In describing future rewards and punishments, Koran 
minute, circumstantial, and extravagant. Gospel brief, 
general, and indefinite. 

In Koran, Mahomet is continually anticipating objec- 
tions, and repelling charges to which he knows himself 
liable. Imposture always suspicious and afraid of detec- 
tion. Truth, independent of such precautions, never uses 
them. In the Gospel, no solicitude shewn, no pains taken 
to obviate cavils or remove difficulties — facts plainly and 
simply stated, left to make their way by their own native 
force and truth. 

In these leading features there is a striking contrast 
between the two religions and their respective founders ; 
and as Mahomet is universally acknowledged to have been 
an impostor, it follows that Christ, the reverse of Maho- 
met, was the reverse of an impostor, i. e. a real messenger 
from heaven. 



92 PROP. VIII. COMPARISON BETWEEN 

QUESTIONS. 

1. State the eighth proposition. 

2. In what quarters of the glohe is the Mahometan 
religion professed ? 

3. Who was the founder of it, and what did he pre- 
tend to he ? 

4. What opinion is universally entertained of him and 
his religion by all who are not Mahometans ? 

5. Is this opinion held only by Christians ? 

6. To what do both the Christian and Mahometan re- 
ligions lav claim V 

7. What do we know with regard to the one, and af- 
firm and believe of the other? 

8. If this be so, what may we expect to find upon com- 
paring them and their authors together ? 

9. What peculiarities in the birth, connections, and 
fortune of Mahomet were favourable to the propagation of 
his creed ? 

In. How did these circumstances greatly contribute to 
the success of his religion ? 

11. In what opposite condition of life did Christ enter 
on his mission? 

12. Were these circumstances calculated to promote the 
introduction and establishment of a new religion in the 
world ? 

13. What was the moral character of Mahomet ? 

14. What, on the contrary, was the character of Christ? 

15. By what temper and disposition was Mahomet dis- 
tinguished ? 

16. What were the temper and disposition of Christ ? 

17. To what immediate intercourse with heaven did 
Mahomet pretend ? 

18. How, on the contrary, was Jesus repeatedly acknow- 
ledged to be the Son of God ? 

19. Had the appearance of Mahomet been foretold ?— 
was it expected ? 



CHRIST AND MAHOMET. 93 

20. What announcement had been made of the Mes- 
siah's advent ? and what expectation prevailed over the 
East at the time of His birth ? 

21. Did Mahomet ever presume to exercise any pro- 
phetic power ? — For what obvious reason ? 

22. How did Christ vindicate His claim to the prophetic 
office? 

23. Did Mahomet ever pretend to be endued with super- 
natural power ? 

24. By what miraculous works did Jesus attest the Di- 
vine origin of his religion ? 

25. Of what means of conversion did Mahomet make 
use during the first twelve years of his mission ? With 
what success were his efforts attended ? 

26. With what success were the labours of our Saviour 
and his apostles attended in the same space of time ? 

27. By what deceptive statement did Mahomet preju- 
dice the Jews, the Christians, and the Arabs, in favour of 
his religion ? 

28. How did Christ, on the contrary, provoke the hos- 
tility of the Jews and of the whole heathen world ? 

29. In what manner did Mahomet pay court to the 
weaknesses and propensities of his disciples ? 

30. What restraints of a totally opposite character did 
our Saviour impose on all his followers ? 

31. Were these prohibitions limited to the outward con- 
duct? 

32. To what, in short, did they amount ? 

33. With what prospective gratifications did Mahomet 
bribe men to embrace his religion ? 

34. What rewards, in a future state, did Christ promise 
his disciples ? 

35. To what efficacious mode of producing conviction 
had Mahomet recourse, in addition to the attractions of 
sensual delights ? 

36. To what means of converting men did Jesus confine 
himself ? 



94 PROP. VIII. — COMPARISON BETWEEN 

37. Of what force, what arms, did He make use ? 

38. In what circumstances did He achieve the triumph 
of his religion ? 

39. "With what temper and disposition did Mahomet 
seek to animate his followers ? and with what promises 
did he encourage them to fight for their religion ? 

40. Quote the declarations of the Koran on this 
point. 

41. In what terms do the Mahometan divines inculcate 
and magnify this duty ? 

42. "What effect were such exhortations calculated to 
produce ? 

43. Of what contrary tendency were the directions of 
Christ to His disciples ? 

44. Repeat some of the passages in which He utterly 
prohibits violence. 

45. "What was actually the effect on the first followers 
of Mahomet ? 

46. What on the first followers of Christ ? 

47. If, after comparing together the authors of the two 
religions, we take a cursory view of their sacred books, 
what shall we find? 

48. For what is the Koran extolled by Mahomet and 
his followers ? 

49. Is this — admitting its excellence, (which has been 
questioned) — a proof of its Divine inspiration ? 

50. To what strong suspicion, on the contrary, do these 
graces of diction give rise. 

51. To what are they auxiliaries ? 

52. On what does the Gospel depend for its success ? 

53. Repeat St. Paul's declaration to this effect. 

54. In what more essential points is the Koran, beyond 
comparison, inferior to the Gospel ? 

55. Of what nature is its narrative ? 

56. Of what qualities is it nearly destitute ? 

57. "Whence are its most material passages borrowed ? 

58. "Why is it difficult to identify even these ? 



CHRIST AND MAHOMET. 95 

59. Of what nature, on the contrary, is the Gospel nar- 
rative ? 

60. In what peculiar feature of the Koran do we see the 
ostentatious vanity of imposture ? 

61. In what opposite peculiarity of the Gospel do we 
recognise the sober modesty of truth ? 

62. How do they differ in describing the rewards and 
punishments of a future life ? 

63. What other and very material mark of discrimina- 
tion is there between the Koran and the Gospel'? 

64. Why does he thus anticipate objections, and repel 
accusations, that have not been advanced ? 

65. Do we see any thing of this kind in the Gospel ? 
Why not ? 

66. Since the contrast between these religions and their 
respective founders is so very strong and striking, what 
conclusion may we fairly draw from it ? 



96 PROP. IX. EVIDENCE 



PROPOSITION IX. 

THE PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY THE ANCIENT 
PROPHETS, AND FULFILLED IN OUR SA- 
VIOUR, SHOW THAT HE WAS THE MESSIAH 
EXPECTED BY THE JEWS, AND THAT HE 
CAME INTO THE WORLD BY DIVINE APPOINT- 
MENT, TO BE THE GREAT DELIVERER AND 
REDEEMER OF MANKIND. 



Pre-ordained. Ordained or appointed beforehand. 
Sceptre. The ensign of royalty borne in the hand. 
Sanctuary ; i. e., the Temple. 
Literally. To the very letter, most exactly. 
Buffeted. Struck with the hand, beaten. 
Corruption". Putrefaction or decay. 
Fortuitous. Accidental, happening by chance. 
Coincidence. Occurrence of two or more circumstances 

at the same time. 
Credibility. Belief. 

Mortal. Animated by deadly malice or purpose. 
Fraudulently. By deceit, artifice, or imposition. 
Centering. Uniting in a point. 



The word Messiah signifies anointed; that 
is, a person appointed to some high station, 
dignity, or office ; because originally among 



OF PROPHECV. 97 

the eastern nations, men so appointed (parti- 
cularly kings, priests, and prophets,) were 
anointed with oil. Hence the word Messiah 
means the person pre-ordained and appointed 
by God to be the great deliverer of the Jew- 
ish nation, and the Redeemer of all mankind. 
The word Christ means the same thing. 

Now it was foretold concerning the Mes- 
siah, that he should come before the sceptre 
departed from Judah, that is, before the Jew- 
ish government was destroyed ; * and ac- 
cordingly Christ appeared a short time before 
the period when the Jewish government was 
totally overthrown by the Romans. 

It was foretold, that he should come before 
the destruction of the second temple. " The 
desire of all nations shall come, and I will 
fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of 
Hosts ; the glory of this latter house shall 
be greater than of the former." t Accord- 
ingly Christ appeared some time before the 
destruction of the city and the temple of Jeru- 
salem by the Romans. 

It was foretold by the prophet Daniel, that 
he should come at the end of 490 years after 
the rebuilding of Jerusalem, which had been 
* Gen. xlix. 10. f Haggai, ii. 7, 9. 



98 PROP. IX. EVIDENCE 

laid waste during the captivity of the Jews 
in Babylon, and that he should be cut off; 
and that afterwards the city and sanctuary 
of Jerusalem should be destroyed and made 
desolate.* And accordingly, at what time 
soever the beginning of the 490 years can, 
according to any fair interpretation of the 
words, be fixed, the end of them will fall 
about the time of Christ's appearing: and 
it is well known how entirely the city and 
sanctuary were destroyed by the Romans 
some years after he was cut off and crucified. 

It was foretold, that he should perform 
many great and beneficial miracles ; that the 
eyes of the blind should be opened, and the 
ears of the deaf unstopped ; that the lame 
man should leap as a hart, and the tongue 
of the dumb sing;"f and this we know was 
literally fulfilled in the miracles of Christ; 
the blind received their sight, the lame walked, 
the deaf heard. 

It was foretold, that he should die a violent 
death ; that he would be wounded for our 
transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities ; 
that the chastisement of our peace should be 
upon him ; and that with his stripes we should 
* Dan. ix. 26. f Isaiah, xxxv. 5. 



OF PROPHECY. 99 

be healed ; that God would lay on him the 
iniquity of us all.* All which was exactly 
accomplished in the sufferings of Christ, 
" who died for our sins, the just for the unjust, 
that he might bring us to God." f 

It was foretold, that to him should , the ga- 
thering of the people be ; and that God would 
give him the heathen for his inheritance, and 
the utmost parts of the earth for his pos- 
session, J which was punctually fulfilled by 
the wonderful success of the Gospel, and its 
universal propagation throughout the world. 

Lastly, many minuter circumstances were 
told of the great Deliverer, or Redeemer, that 
was to come. 

That he should be born of a virgin ; that 
he should be of the tribe of Judah and the 
seed of David ; that he should be born in the 
town of Bethlehem ; that he should ride upon 
an ass in humble triumph into the city of Je- 
rusalem ; that he should be a man of sorrows, 
and acquainted with grief ; that he should be 
sold for thirty pieces of silver ; that he should 
be scourged, buffeted, and spit upon ; that he 
should be numbered with the transgressors 

* Isaiah, liii. throughout ; and Dan. rx. 26. 
f 1 Pet. iii. 18. t Psalm, ii. 8. 



100 PROP. IX. EVIDENCE 

(that is, should be crucified, as he was, between 
two thieves) ; that he should have gall and 
vinegar given him to drink ; that they who 
saw him crucified should mock at him, and at 
his trusting in God to deliver him ; that the 
soldiers should cast lots for his garments ; that 
he should make his grave with the rich ; and 
that he should rise again without seeing cor- 
ruption.* All these circumstances, it is well 
known, were foretold, and, to the greatest pos- 
sible exactness, fulfilled in the person of Christ. 
AVI 1 at now shall we say to these things ? 
Here are upwards of twenty different parti- 
culars, many of them of a very extraordinary 
nature, which it was foretold, 700 years be- 
fore our Saviour was born, would all meet in 
him, and which did all actually meet in his 
person. Is not this a most extraordinary con- 
sideration ? There are but three possible 
suppositions that can be made concerning 
it; either that this was a mere fortuitous 
coincidence, arising entirely from chance and 
accident ; or that these prophecies were writ- 



* Isaiah, vii. 14. Micah, v. Zech. ix. 9. Isaiah, 
liii. 3. Zech. xi. 12. Isaiah, 1. 6. Isaiah, liii. 12. 
Psalm lxix. 22. Psalm xxiv. 7 ; 18. Isaiah, liii. 9. 
Psalm xvi. 10. 



OF PROPHECY. 101 

ten after the events had taken place; or, 
lastly, that they were real predictions, de- 
livered many years before these events came 
to pass, and all fulfilled in Christ. That any 
one should by chance hit upon so many things, 
which should all prove true, and prove true 
concerning one and the same person, though 
several of them were of such a nature as were 
unlikely to happen singly, and by far the great- 
est part of which had never before happened 
singly to any person whatever ; this, I say, ex- 
ceeds all bounds of credibility, and all power 
of conjecture or calculation. 

That these prophecies were not written or 
delivered after the things predicted had hap- 
pened, is most certain ; because they are found 
in books which existed long before those events 
came to pass, that is, in the books of the Old 
Testament ; and the Jews themselves, the mor- 
tal enemies of Christ and his religion, acknow- 
ledge that these prophecies were in those 
books, exactly as we now see them, many 
hundred years before Christ came into the 
world. 

The books themselves were in their own 
keeping, in the keeping of our adversaries, 
who would undoubtedly take effectual care 



102 PROP. IX. EVIDENCE 

that nothing favourable to Christ should be 
fraudulently inserted into them. The Jews 
were our librarians. The prophecies were in 
their custody, and are read in all their copies 
of the Old Testament, as well as in ours. 
They have made many attempts to explain 
them away, but none to question their authen- 
ticity. 

It remains then that these are all real pre- 
dictions, all centering in our Saviour, and in 
him only, and delivered many centuries before 
he Avas born. As no one but God has the 
foreknowledge of events, it is from him these 
prophecies must have proceeded: and they 
show, of course, that Christ was the person 
whom he had for a great length of time pre- 
determined to send into the world, to be 
the great Deliverer, Redeemer, and Saviour of 
mankind. 



ANALYSIS. 

Definition of the word Messiah — hence its meaning 
when applied to our Saviour. Similar meaning of the 
ivord Christ. Coming of the Messiah before the overthrow 
of the Jewish Government foretold by Jacob, Gen. xlix. 
10 ; before the destruction of the second Temple, foretold 
by Haggai, ii. 7, 9 ; at the end of 490 years, after the re- 



OF PROPHECY. 103 

building of Jerusalem, when He should be cut off, and the 
city and sanctuary soon after be made desolate, foretold 
by Daniel, ix. 26 ; the number and nature of His miracles 
foretold by Isaiah ; His violent death and vicarious suf- 
ferings foretold by Isaiah, ch. liii., and Daniel, ix. 26 ; 
the success of His Gospel, and its universal propagation, 
foretold by David, Ps. ii. 8 ; and many of the minutest 
circumstances of His life, and more particularly of its 
closing scenes, by Isaiah, Micah, Zechariah, and David. 
These predictions, many of them of very uncommon na- 
ture, uttered 700 years before His birth, were all actually 
fulfilled in Christ Three possible modes of accounting for 
this coincidence — 1. By supposing that it was accidental ; 
2. That the prophecies were written after the events had 
taken place ; or, 3. That they were real predictions, and 
had their fulfilment in Christ. First supposition incredi- 
ble, and beyond all power of conjecture or calculation. 
Second supposition false ; these predictions beiug found in 
books long anterior to the events predicted, and acknow- 
ledged to be authentic by the Jews, the mortal enemies of 
Christ and His religion. They are, then, real predictions, 
and were fulfilled in our Saviour, and in Him only ; and, 
as God alone foreknows the future, must have proceeded 
from Him, and consequently shew that Christ was the pre- 
destined Deliverer, Redeemer, and Saviour of mankind. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. State the ninth proposition. 

2. What is the literal meaning of the word " Messiah? " 
8. How does it come to bear the more extended signi- 
fication ? 

4. What is its import when applied to our Saviour ? 

5. What does the word " Christ" signify? 

6. What was foretold concerning the time of the Mes- 
siah's advent by Jacob, (Gen. xlix. 10) ? 

7. How was this prediction fulfilled ? 



I 04 PROP. IX. EVIDENCE OF PROPHECY. 

8. What was foretold respecting it by Haggai, (ii. 7, 9) ? 

9. In what terms was it announced by him ? 

10. In what manner was this prophecy fulfilled ? 

11. What did the prophet Daniel predict of the precise 
period of His coming, and the destruction and desolation 
that should follow it, (ix. 26) ? 

12. ^Yith what minute accuracy was this prediction ac- 
complished ? 

13. What was foretold by Isaiah (xxxv. 5) of the num- 
ber and nature of the miracles the Messiah should perform ? 

14. How was this prophecy fulfilled? 

15. By what death, and in whose stead, was it foretold, 
b} T Daniel (ix. 26) and Isaiah (lih.) that He should suffer 
and die ? 

16. In what was all this exactly accomplished ? 

17. In what terms did David (Ps. ii. 8) predict the es- 
tablishment of His kingdom upon earth ? 

18. How was this prediction punctually fulfilled ? 

19. Enumerate some of the minuter circumstances that 
were told of the great Deliverer that -was to come. 

20. To what extent did these receive fulfilment ? 

21. How can we account for the meeting, in the person 
of Christ, of so many particulars, many of them of a very 
extraordinary nature, and foretold 700 vears before His 
birth? 

22. On what grounds must we reject the first of these 
suppositions ? 

23. How are we assured that the second is false ? 
21. What supposition alone remains ? 

25. From whom must they have proceeded ? Why ? 

26. What do they consequently show ? 



105 



PROPOSITION X. 

THE PROPHECIES DELIVERED BY OUR SAVIOUR 
HIMSELF PROVE THAT HE WAS ENDUED 
WITH THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF FUTURE 
EVENTS ; WHICH BELONGS ONLY TO GOD 
AND TO THOSE INSPIRED BY HIM. 



Foreknowledge. Knowledge of that which has not yet 
happened. 

Betrayed. Given into the hands of enemies by treachery. 

Minute. Of small consequence ; less important. 

Circumstantial. Full of small events, particular, de- 
tailed. 

Siege. The investing of a town or fortress with armed 
forces. 

Corresponds. Agrees, harmonises. 

Illustrate. To elucidate, make clear, intelligible, or 
obvious. 

Endued. Furnished or supplied with. 



He did very particularly, and at several dif- 
ferent times, foretel Ms own death, and the 
circumstances of it ; — that the chief priests and 
scribes should condemn him to death, and de- 
liver him to the Gentiles, that is, to Pilate and 
the Roman soldiers, to mock, and scourge, 



106 PROP. X. THE PROPHECIES 

and crucify him ; that he should be betrayed 
into their hands ; that Judas Iscariot was the 
person who should betray him ; that all his 
disciples would forsake him and flee ; and that 
Peter would particularly thrice deny him in 
one night. He foretold further, that he would 
rise again the third day ; that, after his ascen- 
sion, he would send down the Holy Ghost on 
his apostles, which would enable them to work 
many miracles. He foretold, likewise, many 
particulars concerning the future success of 
the Gospel, and what should happen to 
several of his disciples ; he foretold what op- 
position and persecution they should meet 
with in their preaching ; he foretold what 
particular kind of death Peter should die, 
and intimated that St. John should live (as 
he did) till after the destruction of Jeru- 
salem ; he foretold, that, notwithstanding 
all opposition and persecution, the Gospel 
should yet have such success as to spread it- 
self over the world; and, lastly, he foretold 
the destruction of Jerusalem, with such very 
particular and minute circumstances, in the 
24th chapter of St. Matthew, the 13th of 
St. Mark, and the 21st of St. Luke, that 
no one who reads the description of that 



OF CHRIST HIMSELF. 107 

event, in the historians of those times, can 
have the smallest doubt of our Saviour's 
divine foreknowledge. We have a most au- 
thentic, exact, and circumstantial account of 
the siege and destruction of that city by the Ro- 
mans, written by Josephus, a Jewish and con- 
temporary historian ; and the description he has 
given of this terrible calamity so perfectly, cor- 
responds with our Saviour's prophecy, that one 
would have thought, had we not known the 
contrary, that it had been written by a Chris- 
tian, on purpose to illustrate that prediction. 

This power of foretelling future events is a 
plain proof that Christ came from God, and 
was endued with this power from above. 



ANALYSIS. 



Our Saviour, Himself endowed with the foreknowledge 
of future events, foretold, 1. His own death and its conco- 
mitant circumstances ; 2. His resurrection and ascension 
and the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pente- 
cost ; 3. The future success of the Gospel, the fate of His 
disciples, the opposition and persecution they should meet 
with ; 4. The death Peter should die, the prolongation of 
St. John's life to a definite period ; 5. The ultimate diffu- 
sion of His Gospel over the world, in despite of all oppo- 
sition ; and, 6. The destruction of Jerusalem, with its most 
minute and distinctive circumstances. Between this last 



108 PROP. X. PROPHECIES OF CHRIST. 

prediction and the account of the same event subsequently 
given by the Jewish historian Josephus, there is so per- 
fect a correspondence, that the one seems written to illus- 
trate the other. 

This foreknowledge of the future a manifest proof that 
Christ came from God, and was endued with prophetic 
power from above. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. State the tenth proposition. 

2. What did our Saviour minutely and repeatedly fore- 
tel concerning himself? 

3. Mention some of the concomitant circumstances pre- 
dicted by Him. 

4. What did He foretel respecting His resurrection and 
ascension, and the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day 
of Pentecost ? 

5. What did Pie foretel regarding the Gospel, the fate 
of some of His disciples, and the opposition they should 
encounter ? 

6. What did He predict concerning St. Peter and St. 
John? 

7. What, concerning the ultimate diffusion of the Chris- 
tian faith ? 

8. What, concerning Jerusalem ? 

9. Who has subsequently furnished us with a most ex- 
act and circumstantial account of that event ? 

10. To what extent does his narrative verify our Savi- 
our's prediction ? 

11. Of what is this power of foretelling future events a 
manifest proof? 



109 



PROPOSITION XL 

THE MIRACLES PERFORMED BY OUR LORD, 
DEMONSTRATE HIM TO HAVE POSSESSED 
DIVINE POWER. 



Miracles. See Prop. III. 

Mission. A being sent or delegated by authority, with 
certain powers for transacting business. 

Inveterate. See Prop. VII. 

Devils ; i. e. demons ; spiritual beings that vexed and 
tormented men. 

Scrutinize. To search into, to examine with nicety. 

Critical. Accurate, scrupulous. 

Competent. Sufficient, adequate. 

Apostles. Persons sent to execute some important busi- 
ness ; appropriately, disciples of Christ commissioned 
to preach the Gospel. 

Excruciating. Torturing, tormenting, causing exces- 
sive pain. 

Concurrent. Vide Prop. II. 

Premeditated. Conceived, or thought of beforehand. 

Allurements. Temptations, enticements. 

Experience. Observation of the same facts or events 
happening under like circumstances. 

Credibility. Vide Prop. IX. 



Although the preceding Propositions con- 
tain very convincing proofs of the divine mis- 



110 PROP. XI. EVIDENCE 

sion of Christ, and tbe divine authority of 
his Religion, yet, undoubtedly, the strongest 
evidence of this arises from the wonderful and 
well-attested miracles which he wrought from 
the beginning to the end of his ministry. He 
cured the most inveterate diseases; he made 
the lame to walk ; he opened the eyes of 
the blind and the ears of the deaf; he cast 
out devils; he walked upon the sea; he fed 
live thousand persons with a few small loaves 
and fishes, and even raised the dead to life 
again. These miracles were all wrought in 
open day, in sight of multitudes of witnesses, 
who could not be imposed upon in things which 
they saw plainly with their own eyes, who 
had an opportunity of scrutinizing them as 
much as they pleased, and who did actually 
scrutinize them with a most critical exactness, 
as appears from the very remarkable instance 
of the blind man restored to sight by our Lord, 
in the 9 th chapter of St. John — a transaction 
which I recommend very earnestly to the 
attention of my readers. 

It is true, that miracles being very unu- 
sual and extraordinary facts, they require 
very strong evidence to support them ; much 
stronger, it must be owned, than common 



FROM MIRACLES. Ill 

events, that are recorded in history : and accor- 
dingly the miracles of Christ have this very 
strong and extraordinary evidence to support 
them — evidence such as is not to be equalled 
in any other instance, and such as is fully 
competent to prove the reality of the great- 
est miracle that ever was performed. 

Besides a multitude of other persons, who 
were eye-witnesses to these miracles, and who 
were actually convinced and converted by 
them, there were twelve persons called Apos- 
tles ; plain, honest, unprejudiced men ; whom 
our Saviour chose to be his constant com- 
panions and friends, who were almost al- 
ways about his person, accompanied him in 
his travels, heard all his discourses, saw all 
his miracles, and attended him through all 
the different scenes of his life, death, and re- 
surrection, till the time of his ascension into 
Heaven. These persons were perfectly cap- 
able of judging whether the works which 
they saw Jesus perform were real mira- 
cles or not ; they could tell whether a per- 
son whom they had known to be blind all 
his life was suddenly restored to sight by 
our Saviour's only speaking a word or touch- 
ing his eyes ; they could tell whether he did 



112 PROI\ XI. EVIDENCE 

actually, in open day-light, walk upon the 
sea without sinking, and without any visible 
support; whether a person called Lazarus, 
whom they were well acquainted with, and 
whom they knew to have been four days 
dead and buried, was raised to life again 
merely by Christ saying, Lazarus, arise. 

In these, and other facts of this sort, 
they could not possibly be deceived. Now 
these, and many other miracles, equally as- 
tonishing, they affirm that they themselves 
actually saw performed by our Saviour. In 
consequence of this, from being Jews, and of 
course strongly prejudiced against Christ and 
his outward appearance, which was the very 
reverse of every thing they expected in their 
Messiah, they became his disciples ; and on 
account of their conversion, and more par- 
ticularly on account of their asserting the 
truth of his miracles and his resurrection, 
they endured for a long course of years the 
severest labours, hardships, sufferings, and 
persecution, that human nature could be ex- 
posed to, and at last submitted to the most 
cruel and excruciating deaths ; all which they 
might easily have avoided, if they would only 
have said that Christ was not the Son of God, 



FROM MIRACLES. 113 

that he never worked any miracles, and never 
rose from the dead. Yet this they refused to 
say, and were content to die rather than say it.* 

Is not this giving the strongest proof of 
their sincerity, and of the reality of Christ's 
miracles, that human nature and human testi- 
mony are capable of giving ? The concurrent 
and uncontradicted testimony of twelve such 
witnesses is, according to all the rules of evi- 
dence, sufficient to establish the truth of any 
one fact in the world, however extraordinary, 
however miraculous. 

If there had been any powerful temptation 
thrown in the way of these men ; if they had 
been bribed, like the followers of Mahomet, 
with sensual indulgences, or, like Judas Isca- 
riot, with a sum of money, one should not 
have been much surprised at their persisting, 
for a time at least, in a premeditated falsehood. 
But when we know, that instead of any of 
these allurements being held out to them, 
their Master always foretold to them, and 
they themselves soon found by experience, 

* No man ever laid down his life for the honour of 
Jupiter, Neptune, or Apollo; but how many thousands 
have sealed their Christian testimony with then blood. — 
Beat lie, v. ii. 

l2 



114 PROP. XI. EVIDENCE 

that they could gain nothing, and must lose 
every thing in this world, by embracing Chris- 
tianity, it is utterly impossible to account for 
their embracing it on any other ground than 
their conviction of its truth from the miracles 
which they saw. In fact, must they not have 
been absolutely mad to have incurred volun- 
tarily so much misery, and such certain de- 
struction, for affirming things to be true which 
they knew to be false; more especially as 
their own religion taught them, that they would 
be punished most severely in another world, 
as well as in this, for so wicked a fraud? 
Is it usual for men thus to sport with their 
own happiness, and their very lives, and to 
bring upon themselves, with their eyes open, 
such dreadful evils, without any reason in the 
world, and without the least possible benefit, 
advantage, credit, or pleasure, resulting from 
it ? "Where have you ever heard of any instance 
of this sort ? Would any twelve men you ever 
knew, especially men of credit and character, 
take it into their heads to assert that a certain 
person in the neighbourhood raised a dead 
man to life, when they knew that no such 
thing had ever happened ; and that they would 
all, with one consent, suffer themselves to be 



FROM MIRACLES. 115 

put to death, rather than confess that they had 
told a lie? Such a thing never happened 
since the world began. It is contrary to all 
experience and all credibility, and would be, in 
itself, a greater miracle than any of those that 
are recorded in the Gospel. 

It is certain then (as certain as any thing 
can be that depends on human testimony) 
that real miracles were wrought by Christ; 
and as no miracles can be wrought but by 
the power of God, it is equally certain that 
Christ and his religion drew their origin 
from God. * 



ANALYSIS. 

. The strongest evidence of the divine mission of Christ, 
and divine authority of His religion, arises from His mira- 
cles. He cured the most hopeless diseases, healed the 
lame, gave sight to the blind, and hearing to the deaf ; 
cast out demons, and even restored the dead to life again. 
These miraculous works were performed openly, before 
multitudes, who not only saw, but most minutely scruti- 



* On the clear and evident marks of discrimination 
between the real miracles of the Gospel and the _ pre- 
tended miracles of Paganism and of Popery, see Bishop 
Douglas's Criterion ; and Dr. Paley's most masterly ob- 
servations, in his View of the Evidences of Christianity, 
Prop. i. ch. ii., b. i. p. 329. 



116 PROP. XI. EVIDENCE 

nized them. Remarkable proof of this in 9th chap, of St. 
John. Being unusual and extraordinary facts, they 
require much stronger evidence than common events ; ac- 
cordingly, the miracles of Christ have this very strong and 
extraordinary evidence to support them. 

Independently of the multitudes that were convinced 
and converted by them, the apostles — twelve plain, honest, 
unprejudiced men — were almost always about the person 
of our Lord, ear- witnesses of His discourses, eye-witnesses 
of all His miracles ; His companions in His travels, and 
His attendants from the commencement to the close of 
His public ministry upon earth. These men were cap- 
able of deciding whether the works performed in their pre- 
sence were miraculous or not, and could not possibly be 
deceived in them. 

Now they affirmed that they actually saw these mira- 
cles wrought by our Saviour. Though Jews, and, of 
course, strongly prejudiced against Christ and His exter- 
nal appearance, they became, in consequence, His dis- 
ciples ; they endured labours, hardships, sufferings, and 
persecutions for many years, for asserting the reality of 
His miracles and resurrection ; and they submitted at last 
to ignominious and excruciating deaths in attestation of 
their truth ; thus giving the strongest proof of their sin- 
cerity, and of the reality of the things asserted, that hu- 
man nature and human testimony can give. 

Had powerful temptation (sensual indulgences or 
money) been offered, their persisting, for a time at least, 
in premeditated falsehood might not have been surprising ; 
but as they could gain nothing, and lost every thing by 
it, it can only be accounted for by their conviction of its 
truth. In fact, to encounter cruel sufferings and death 
in support of what they knew to be false, would imply 
absolute madness, more especially as such a fraud must, 
according to their own tenets, involve them in the punish- 
ments of a future world. Such conduct is not only un- 
usual, but unprecedented among mankind ; contrary to all 



FROM MIRACLES. 117 

experience and all credibility ; and in itself a greater mi- 
racle than any of those handed down to us in the Sacred 
Records. 

That real miracles were wrought by Christ, is as unde- 
niable, therefore, as any fact substantiated by human tes- 
timony can be ; and as miracles can only be wrought by 
Divine power, it is as undeniable that Christ exercised 
that Divine power, or, in other words, that He and His 
religion drew then* origin from God. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. State the eleventh proposition. 

2. What constitutes the strongest evidence of the Di- 
vine mission of Christ, and the Divine authority of His 
religion ? 

3. Mention some of these. 

4. How, and before whom, were these miraculous cures 
wrought ? and to what were they exposed ? 

5. Where do we find a remarkable instance of the rigid 
scrutiny to which they were actuaUy subjected? 

6. What kind of evidence do miracles require for their 
confirmation ? Why ? 

7. Are the miracles of Christ supported by evidence of 
this description ? 

8. What witnesses have we for their truth, indepen- 
dently of the multitudes who saw them, and were con- 
verted by them ? 

9. Were these parties qualified to judge of their rea- 
lity? 

10. Could they possibly be imposed upon in facts of 
such a kind ? 

11. What, then, did they affirm, with regard to them ? 

12. By what remarkable change in then* sentiments 
and conduct did they evince then belief in then reality ? 

13. By what personal endurance did they give proof of 
their sincerity and of their truth ? 



118 EVIDENCE FROM 3IIRACLES. 

14. Are human nature and human testimony capable of 
giving, or can any fact require, for confirmation, stronger 
evidence than this ? 

15. In what circumstances should we have felt little 
surprise at their persisting, for a time at least, in a preme- 
ditated falsehood ? 

16. But, when we know that they could gain nothing, 
and lost every thing in this world, by embracing Christia- 
nity, on what ground alone can we account for their em- 
bracing it ? 

17. To what imputation must their conduct, on any 
other supposition, have exposed them ? 

18. Is it customary for men thus to involve themselves 
in the most dreadful evils, without reason, and without the 
least possible advantage in return ? Or rather, has an in- 
stance of it ever occurred ? 

19. "Would any twelve men of respectable character 
unite in asserting that a person in their neighbourhood 
had restored a dead man to life, when they were aware 
that the assertion was false ; and with one consent persist 
in so asserting, when they knew that, by such conduct, 
they must bring upon themselves an ignominious and 
painful death ? 

20. What facts, then, are as certain as any thing can 
be, that depends on human testimony ? 



119 



PEOPOSITION XII. 

THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD FROM THE 
DEAD IS A FACT FULLY PROVED , BY THE 
CLEAREST EVIDENCE, AND IS THE SEAL AND 
CONFIRMATION OF HIS DIVINITY, AND OF 
THE TRUTH OF HIS RELIGION 



Resurrection. A rising again from the grave ; revival 
from the dead. 

Sepulchre. Grave, tomb. 

Ingenuous. Open, fair, candid. 

Sabbath. A day of rest; the seventh day, set apart from 
works of labour, to be employed in piety. 

Worshipped. Adored, honoured with religious rites. 

Depose. Bear witness. 

Lmpuntty. Exemption from punishment. 

Tampered. Dealt with, secretly influenced. 

Alternative. A choice of two things, so that if one be 
rejected, the other must be taken. 

Peremptorily. In so decisive a manner as to preclude 
farther debate. 

Menace. To threaten. 

Preached. Proclaimed or published in their discourses. 

Set at nought. Slighted, disregarded, or despised. 

Enthusiasm. Violent passion or excitement of mind. 

Phantom. Something that appears only to the imagina- 
tion. 

Pretensions. Claims, whether true or false. 

Set his seal. Formally pledged his veracity. 



120 prop. xii. — Christ's divinity 

Appealed. Referred to as decisive. 
Stupendous. "Wonderful, amazing, astonishing. 
Jx BELL ; i. e., Among the dead; thou wilt raise me up. 
To see corruption. To experience, to be made partaker 
of, corruption, i. e. putrefaction or decay in the grave. 



The Resurrection of Christ being one of those 
miracles which are recorded in the Gospel, 
the truth of it is, in fact, already proved 
by what has been advanced respecting those 
miracles in the preceding article. But it is 
an event so singular in its nature, and so in- 
finitely important in its consequences, that it 
well deserves to be made the subject of a dis- 
tinct Proposition. 

After our Saviour's crucifixion, Joseph of 
Arimathea, we are told, laid the body in 
his own new tomb, hewn out of a rock, and 
rolled a great stone to the door of the sepul- 
chre. In order to secure themselves against 
any fraud, the Jews desired the Roman go- 
vernor, Pilate, to grant them a band of soldiers 
to guard the sepulchre, lest, as they said, the 
disciples should come by night and steal the 
corpse away. Pilate's answer was in these 
words, ;i Ye have a watch, go your way, make 
it as sure as you can : so they went and made 



PROVED BY HIS RESURRECTION. 121 

the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting 
a watch." * The Evangelist then proceeds to 
relate the great event of the resurrection with 
that ingenuous and natural simplicity, which 
characterises the sacred historians, and which 
carries upon the face of it every mark of sin- 
cerity and truth. 

" In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to 
dawn towards the first day of the week, came 
Mary Magdalen, and the other Mary, to see 
the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great 
earthquake : for the Angel of the Lord de- 
scended from heaven, and rolled back the 
stone from the door, and sate upon it. His 
countenance was like lightning, and his rai- 
ment white as snow. And for fear of him the 
keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 
And the Angel of the Lord answered and said 
unto the women, Fear not ye : for I know 
that ye seek Jesus, that was crucified. He is 
not here : for he is risen from the dead : and 
behold, he goeth before you into Galilee ; 
there ye shall see him : Lo, I have told you. 
And as they went to tell his disciples, behold 
Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they 
came and held him by the feet, and worship- 
* Matth. xxvii. 65, 66. 



122 prop. xii. — Christ's divinity 

ped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not 
afraid ; go tell my brethren, that they go into 
Galilee, and there shall they see me. Now, 
when they were going, behold, some of the 
watch came into the city, and shewed unto 
the chief priests all that was done. And 
when they were assembled with the elders, 
and had taken counsel, they gave large money 
unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, his disciples 
came by night, and stole him away while we 
slept. And if this come to the governor's ear, 
we will persuade him, and secure you. So 
they took the money, and did as they were 
taught : And this saying is commonly re- 
ported among the Jews unto this day." * 

Such is the relation of this wonderful 
fact given by St. Matthew, which compre- 
hends not only his own account of it, but that 
also which was circulated in opposition to it 
by the chief priests and rulers of the Jews. 
Here then we have fairly before us the two 
different representations of this event by the 
friends and by the enemies of Christ ; of which 
the former asserts that it was a real resurrec- 
tion, the other that it was a fraud ; and be- 
tween these two we must form our opinions ; 
* Matth. xxviii. 1-15. 



PROVED BY HIS RESURRECTION. 123 

for no third story has been set up, that we 
know of, by any one. 

One thing is agreed on by both sides, viz. 
that the body was not to be found in the se- 
pulchre. It was gone ; and the question is, 
by what means ? The soldiers gave. out, that 
the disciples "came by night, while they slept, 
and stole it away." But it is not very easy to 
understand how the soldiers could depose to any 
thiii g that passed while they were fast asleep ; 
they could not possibly tell in what manner the 
body was stolen away, or by whom. Nor, 
considering the extreme severity of the Ro- 
man military discipline, is it credible, that if 
they had been asleep they would have con- 
fessed it. For it was certain death to a Ro- 
man soldier to be found sleeping upon guard. 
Nothing could have prevailed upon them to 
make such a declaration as that, but a pre- 
vious promise of impunity and reward from 
the Jewish rulers; a plain proof that they 
had been tampered with, and that it was a 
concerted story. 

In the next place, supposing the story true, 
of what use could the dead body be to the dis- 
ciples ? It could not prove to them, or to others, 
that their Master was risen from the dead ; on 



124 prop. xii. — Christ's divinity 

the contrary, it must have been a standing 
and a visible proof of the contrary. It must 
convince them, that he, instead of being the 
deliverer they expected, was an impostor, and 
they most cruelly deceived. And why they 
should choose to keep in their possession, and 
to have continually before their eyes, a life- 
less corpse, which completely blasted all their 
hopes, and continually reminded them of their 
bitter disappointment, is somewhat difficult to 
be imagined. 

The tale, then, told by the soldiers, is, upon 
the very face of it, a gross and clumsy forgery. 
The consequence is, that the account given by 
St. Matthew is the true one. For if the body 
was actually gone (an acknowledged point on 
all sides) and if it was not, as we have proved, 
stolen away by the disciples, there are but two 
possible suppositions remaining ; either that it 
was taken away by the Jews and Romans, or 
that it was raised to life again by the power 
of God. If the former had been the case, it 
could only have been for the purpose of con- 
fronting and convicting the disciples of false- 
hood and fraud by the production of the dead 
body. But the dead body was not produced. 
It was therefore, as the Gospel affirms, raised 



PROVED BY HIS RESURRECTION. 125 

from the grave, and restored to life. There is 
no other conceivable alternative left. 

And that this was actually the case, is 
proved by our Lord's appearing, after his 
resurrection, not only to the two women who 
came first to the sepulchre, but to the two dis- 
ciples going to Emmaus, and to the disciples 
assembled together at two different times, and 
to all the apostles, and to above 500 brethren at 
once. And he not only appeared to them 
silently, but he talked and ate with them ; he 
showed them his hands and his feet ; he made 
them handle him ; he held several long conver- 
sations with them ; and, at last, ascended up 
into heaven in their sight. 

These were things of which the plainest 
and most ignorant men could judge. It was 
impossible for them to be deceived in an ob- 
ject with which they were well acquainted, 
and which presented itself to all their senses. 

But there is another more decisive proof, 
arising from their own conduct, that they were 
perfectly convinced of the reality of our Lord's 
resurrection. 

It appears that the apostles were far from 
being men of natural courage and firmness of 
mind. When our Lord was apprehended, all 
m 2 



126 prop. xti. — Christ's divinity 

his disciples, we are told, forsook him, and 
fled. Peter followed him afar off, and went 
into a hall in the palace of the high priest, 
where the servants warmed themselves, and 
being there charged with being a disciple of 
Jesus, he peremptorily denied it three times 
with vehemence and with oaths. It does not 
appear that any of his disciples attended in 
the judgment-hall to assist or support him; 
and when he was crucified, the only persons 
that ventured to stand near his cross, were 
his mother, and two or three other women, 
and St. John. They all, in short, appeared 
dismayed and terrified with the fate of their 
Master, afraid to acknowledge the slightest con- 
nection with him, and utterly unable to face the 
dangers that seemed to menace them. But im- 
mediately after the resurrection of our Lord, 
a most astonishing change took place in their 
conduct. From being the most timid of men, 
they suddenly became courageous, undaunted, 
and intrepid ; they boldly preached that very 
Jesus whom but a short time before they had 
deserted in his greatest distress ; and although 
his crucifixion was fresh before their eyes, and 
they had reason to expect the same or a similar 
fate, yet they persisted in avowing themselves 



PROVED BY HIS RESURRECTION. 127 

his disciples, and told the Jews publicly, " that 
God had made that same Jesus, whom they 
had crucified, both Lord and Christ ; " * and 
when they were brought before the rulers 
and elders to be examined respecting the 
lame man whom they had cured at the gate 
of the temple, "Be it known unto you all (said 
they), and to all the people of Israel, that by 
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom 
ye crucified, and whom God raised from 
the dead, even by him does this man stand 
here before you whole. This is the stone which 
was set at nought of you builders, which is 
become the head stone of the corner. Neither 
is there salvation in any other : for there is 
none other name under heaven given among 
men, whereby we must be saved. " "f 

And when a second time they were brought 
before the council, and forbidden to teach in 
the name of Jesus, their answer was, "We 
ought to obey God rather than men. And 
when they were again reprimanded, and threat- 
ened, and beaten, yet they ceased not in the 
temple, and in every house, to teach and to 
preach Jesus Christ; and with great power 

* Acts ii. 36. f Acts iv. 10, 11, 12. 



128 prop. xii. — Christ's divinity 

gave the apostles witness of the resurrection 
of the Lord Jesus." * 

In what manner now shall we account for 
this sudden and most singular change in the 
disposition, and as it were in the very consti- 
tution of the apostles? If Christ had not risen 
from the grave, and his dead body was in 
the possession of his disciples, was this cal- 
culated to inspire them with affection for their 
leader, and with courage to preach a doctrine 
which they knew to be false ? Would it not, 
on the contrary, have increased their natural 
timidity, depressed their spirits, extinguished 
all their zeal, and filled them with indig- 
nation and horror against a man who had so 
grossly deceived them, and robbed them 
under false pretences, of every thing that 
was dear and valuable to them in the world ? 
Most unquestionably it would. Nor is it 
possible to account, in any rational way, for 
the strange revolution which took place in 
their minds, so soon after their master's death, 
but by admitting, that they were fully per- 
suaded and satisfied that he rose alive from 
the grave. 

It may be said, perhaps, that this persuasion 
* Acts v. 29, 42, and iv. 33. 



PROVED BY HIS RESURRECTION. 129 

was the effect, not of irresistible evidence, 
but of enthusiasm, which made them fancy- 
that some visionary phantom, created solely 
by their own heated imagination, was the 
real body of their Lord restored to life. But 
nothing could be more distant from enthu- 
siasm than the character and conduct of these 
men, and the courage they manifested, which 
was perfectly calm, sober, collected, and cool. 
But what completely repels this suspicion is, 
that their bitterest adversaries never once ac- 
cused them of enthusiasm, but charged them 
with a crime which was utterly inconsistent 
with it, fraud and theft ; with stealing away 
the body from the grave. And if they did 
this — if that dead body was actually before 
their eyes, how was it possible for any degree 
of enthusiasm short of madness (which was 
never alleged against them) to mistake a dead 
body for a living man, whom they saw, and 
touched, and conversed with? No such in- 
stance of enthusiasm ever occurred in the 
world. 

The resurrection of our Lord being thus es- 
tablished on the firmest grounds, it affords an 
unanswerable proof of the truth of our Saviour's 
pretensions, and, consequently, of the truth of 



130 prop. xii. — Christ's divinity 

his religion : for had he not been what he as- 
sumed to be, the Son of God, it is impossible 
that God should have raised him from the dead, 
and thereby given his sanction to an impos- 
ture. But as he did actually restore him to 
life, he thereby set his seal to the divinity 
which he claimed, and acknowledged him, in 
the most public and authoritative manner, to 
be " his beloved Son, in whom he was well 
pleased." * 

And this evidence of our Lord's divine mis- 
sion is of the more importance, because our 
Saviour himself appealed to it as the grand 
proof of his being sent from heaven to instruct 
and to redeem mankind. For when he cast the 
buyers and sellers out of the temple, and the 
Jews required of him a sign, that is, a miracu- 
lous proof, that he had the authority of God for 
doing those things, his answer was, — " Destroy 
this temple (meaning his body), and in three 
days I will raise it up. When therefore he was 
risen from the dead, his disciples remembered 
that he had said this unto them : and they be- 
lieved the scripture, and the word which Jesus 
had said, "| and they themselves constantly re- 
ferred to the resurrection more than to any 
* Matth. iii. 17. f John ii. 19. 



PROVED BY HIS RESURRECTION. 131 

other evidence, as the great foundation on 
which their faith was built, 

The reason for this, perhaps, was, that this 
great event contained in itself, at once the 
evidence both of miracle and of prophecy. 
It was certainly one of the most stupendous 
manifestations of Divine power that could be 
presented to the observation of mankind; and 
it was, at the same time, the completion of 
two most remarkable prophecies ; that of our 
Saviour's above mentioned, and that well- 
known one of King David's, which St. Peter 
expressly applies to the resurrection of Christ : 
" Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell ; neither 
wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see cor- 
ruption." * 



ANALYSIS. 

The resurrection of Christ (the truth of which, as a 
miracle, has been already proved in Prop. XL) is so sin- 
gular and so important an occurrence, as to deserve sepa- 
rate consideration. 

Narrative of the event, with its concomitant circum- 



* Psalm xvi. 10; Acts ii. 27. On this subject of 
Christ's resurrection, I must again refer my young readers 
to Dr. Paley, vol. ii. c. is. p. 209, and also to the conclu- 
sion of his work ; the force of which it seems to be scarcely 
possible for an unprejudiced reader to withstand. 



132 prop. xh. — Christ's divinity 

stances, by the friends of Christ, and contradictory account 
by the Jewish priests and rulers, his enemies, from St. 
Matthew's Gospel (xxvii. 65, 6Q, and xxviii. 1-16) ; the 
former asserting that it was a real resurrection ; the latter, 
that it was a fraud. No other account of it has ever been 
offered. 

Absence of the body from the sepulchre acknowledged 
by both parties. By what means ? Carried off, accord- 
ing to the soldiers, by the disciples while they slept. Im- 
possible that men, by their own confession " fast asleep," 
could tell when, how, or by whom, it was stolen away. 
Incredible that they should confess a crime for which they 
must unavoidably have suffered death, without a previous 
promise of impunity and reward. This, therefore, a pre- 
concerted story between the military and the Jewish rulers. 

Admitting for a moment the truth of the story, the 
possession of the lifeless body of Christ by the disciples, 
and the production of it to others, instead of proving that 
He was risen from the dead, must have demonstrated the 
verj* reverse, and convinced them that He was an impostor, 
and themselves His miserable dupes, and been to them a 
memorial of blasted hope and bitter disappointment. 

The soldiers' tale, then, a gross and clumsy forgery, 
and the account given by the evangelist the true one ; for 
the body, if actually gone, and not stolen by the disciples, 
must either have been carried off by the Jews and Romans, 
or raised to life by the power of God. If abstracted by the 
Jews and Romans, it could only have been that they might 
confront the disciples with it, and convict them of false- 
hood and fraud ; but, so far from producing it, they en- 
deavoured to account for its disappearance. The Gospel 
account, therefore, the only alternative left — that it was 
raised from the grave, and restored to life ; and this was 
proved to be the fact, by our Lord's repeated appearances, 
after His resurrection, not only to the apostles, but to 
great numbers of His disciples, and by His familiar inter- 
course with them. He was seen, heard, and handled bv 



PROVED BY HIS RESURRECTION. 133 

them; ate with them, talked with them. In an object 
known to them, and which thus presented itself to all their 
senses, they could not possibly be deceived. 

Another proof of their conviction of its reality arises 
from their conduct. The apostles were not naturally 
courageous or resolute men ; they forsook their Master in 
every dangerous emergency, were terrified with his fate, 
and afraid to acknowledge their connection with Hi m . 
But after His resurrection, they became courageous, un- 
daunted, intrepid — boldly preached His Gospel — avowed 
themselves His disciples — reproached their countrymen 
with His death — declared that they wrought miracles in 
His name — and proclaimed Him the only Saviour of men. 
When subsequently prohibited by the highest authority, 
they nevertheless persisted ; and when reprimanded, threat- 
ened, and beaten for disobedience to the civil power, they 
yet ceased not to preach Christ, and to bear testimony, 
with all the force of eloquence and of miracles, to his 
resurrection. 

How was this sudden and singular change brought 
about ? Not assuredly by the possession of his dead body, 
which, instead of inspiring them with affection for their 
Leader, and with courage to proclaim a false doctrine, 
would increase their timidity, extinguish their zeal, and 
fill them with indignation against their deceiver and be- 
trayer. This strange revolution could have been wrought 
only by a thorough persuasion and conviction that He 
was indeed risen from the dead. 

If it be alleged that this persuasion was the effect of 
enthusiasm, nothing could be more remote from enthusiasm 
than their character and conduct ; besides, their bitterest 
enemies, instead of accusing them of this, charged them 
with a crime inconsistent with it — the stealing of the life- 
less body. If that was in their keeping, no conceivable 
enthusiasm could make them believe that a cadaverous 
body was a living man, whom they saAv discharging the 
ordinary functions of life, and with whom they associated 



134 PROP. XII. CHRIST S DIVINITY 

and conversed. This would amount to madness, which 
has never been imputed to them. 

Christ's resurrection, thus established, becomes the 
basis of the Christian faith. Had He not been the Son of 
God, God could not, by raising Him, have sanctioned an 
imposture. Having restored Him to life, He has set the 
seal of heaven to his divinity, and authoritatively acknow- 
ledged Him as "His beloved Son." 

This evidence the more important, because appealed 
to by Christ himself as the grand proof of his divine mis- 
sion. "When the Jews demanded of Him " a sign," a 
miraculous proof that He was invested with divine autho- 
rity, "Destroy this temple," was His answer, "and in 
three days I will raise it up." Hence their belief when 
- risen, and their constant reference to the resur- 
rection as the great foundation of their faith, as containing 
at once the evidence of miracle and of prophecy — a stu- 
pendous manifestation of divine power, and the fulfilment 
of two very remarkable predictions. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. State the twelfth proposition. 

2. How has the truth of the resurrection of Christ been 
already proved? 

3. Why, then, is it made the subject of a distinct pro- 
position. 

4. What account do the sacred historians give of the 
burial of Christ, and of the precautions adopted by the 
Jews to prevent the stealing of his corpse. 

5. Repeat St. Matthew's ingenuous and simple nar- 
rative of His resurrection. 

6. Quote from the same Evangelist the account circu- 
lated in opposition to it by the chief priests and rulers of 
the Jews. 

7. Has any third representation of this event been ever 
ottered ? 



PROVED BY HIS RESURRECTION. 135 

8. In these contradictory statements, what circum- 
stance is agreed on by both sides ? 

9. How, according to the Jewish account, had it been 
removed ? 

10. What difficulty, or rather physical impossibility, 
does this explanation involve ? 

11. What is no less incredible with regard to it, and why ? 

12. By what alone could they have been induced to 
make such a declaration? 

13. Of what is tbis a plain proof? 

14. Admitting, for a moment, the truth of the stoiy, 
what is the only effect which the possession of the dead 
body could have had on the disciples ? "What conviction 
must it have forced upon them ? 

lo. What opinion, then, must we form of the tale told 
by the soldiers ? 

16. What necessarily follows ? 

17. If the body was actually removed (which is acknow- 
ledged by both parties), and not stolen by the disciples 
(which has been proved), what are the only possible sup- 
positions that remain with regard to it ? 

18. For what purpose alone could the Jews and Romans 
have carried it off? 

19. Was the dead body ever produced ? 

20. What, then, is the only conceivable alternative left ? 

21. How was this subsequently proved to be the fact ? 

22. Were these matters of which they were incapable of 
judging, or in which they could be deceived ? 

23. Whence does another most decisive proof arise of 
their thorough belief in the reality of His resurrection ? 

24. What -was the natural character of the apostles ? 

25. How did they all, and in particidar Peter, act to- 
wards Him when apprehended ? 

26. Of what cowardly desertion were they guilty in the 
judgment-hall and on Mount Calvary ? 

27. What effect, in short, does His unjust and cruel fate 
appear to have produced on them ? 



136 Christ's divinity proved, etc. 

28. By what astonishing change in their disposition and 
deportment was this succeeded immediately after His re- 
surrection ? 

29. In what terms did they address the Jewish rulers 
and elders when brought before them for examination ? 

30. "When again brought before the Council, and prohi- 
bited from teaching in the name of Jesus, what was their 
answer ? 

31. And when afterwards reprimanded, threatened, and 
scourged, what was their conduct ? 

32. Was the possession of the dead body of Christ by 
His disciples sufficient to account for so sudden and singu- 
lar a change in the disposition of the apostles ? 

33. What, on the contrary, must have been its effect ? 

34. "What, then, is the only rational mode of accounting 
for the strange revolution that took place in their minds ? 

35. To what feeling or emotion may this persuasion, 
perhaps, be attributed ? 

36. Is such an allegation at all reconcileable with the 
acknowledged character and conduct of the apostles ? 

37. What completely repels this suspicion ? 

38. If they did so, to what must their enthusiasm have 
amounted? 

39. Has such enthusiasm ever been witnessed among 
men? 

40. Of what does the resurrection of our Lord, thus es- 
tablished, afford an unanswerable proof? 

41. How does the truth of Christianity necessarily flow 
from the doctrine of the resurrection ? 

42. What circumstance lends additional importance to 
this evidence of our Lord's divine mission ? 

43. On what occasion did He make this appeal ? 

44. What importance did the disciples themselves attach 
to it? 

45. On what account, probably ? 

46. How did it unite the evidence of both ? 



137 



CONCLUSION. 

These are the principal Proofs of the Truth 
of the Christian Religion. Many others of 
a very satisfactory nature might be added, but 
the question may be safely rested on those 
that have here been stated. 

And when we collect them all together into 
one point of view; when we consider the 
deplorable ignorance and inconceivable de- 
pravity of the heathen world before the birth 
of Christ, which rendered a divine interpo- 
sition essentially necessary, and therefore 
highly probable; the appearance of Christ 
upon earth at the very time when his pre- 
sence was most wanted, and when there was 
a general expectation throughout the East, 
that some great and extraordinary personage 
was soon to come into the world ; the trans- 
cendent excellence of our Lord's character, so 
infinitely beyond that of every other moral 
teacher; the calmness, the composure, the 
dignity, the integrity, the spotless sanctity of 



138 CONCLUDING SUMMARY. 

his manners, so utterly inconsistent with every 
idea of enthusiasm or imposture ; the sublim- 
ity and importance of his doctrines ; the con- 
summate wisdom and perfect purity of his 
moral precepts, far exceeding the natural 
powers of a man born in the humblest situ- 
ation, and in a remote and obscure corner of 
the world, without learning, education, lan- 
guages, or books; the rapid and astonishing 
propagation of his religion, in a very short 
space of time, through almost every region of 
the East, by the sole efforts of himself and a 
few illiterate fishermen, in direct opposition 
to all the power, the authority, the learning, 
the philosophy, the reigning vices, prejudices, 
and superstitions of the world ; the complete 
and marked opposition, in every essential 
point, between the character and religion of 
Christ, and the character and religion of Ma- 
homet, exactly such as might be expected 
between truth and falsehood ; the minute de- 
scription of all the most material circumstan- 
ces of his birth, life, sufferings, death, and 
resurrection, given by the ancient prophets 
many hundred years before he was born, and 
exactly fulfilled in him, and him only, point- 
ing him out as the Messiah of the Jews and 



CONCLUDING SUMMARY. 139 

the Redeemer of mankind ; the various pro- 
phecies delivered by Christ himself, which 
were all punctually accomplished, more espe- 
cially the destruction of Jerusalem by the Ro- 
mans ; the many astonishing miracles wrought 
by Jesus, in the open face of clay, before thou- 
sands of spectators, the reality of which is 
proved by multitudes of the most unexcep- 
tionable witnesses, who sealed their testimony 
with their blood, and was even acknowledged 
by the earliest and most inveterate enemies of 
the Gospel ; and lastly, that most astonishing 
and well-authenticated miracle of our Lord's 
Resurrection, which was the seal and confirm- 
ation of his own Divine Origin, and that of his 
Religion : when all these various evidences 
are brought together, and impartially weighed, 
it seems hardly within the power of a fair and 
ingenuous mind to resist the impression of 
their united force. If such a combination of 
evidence as this is not sufficient to satisfy an 
honest inquirer into truth, it is utterly impos- 
sible that any event, which passed in former 
times, and which we did not see with our own 
eyes, can ever be proved to have happened, 
by any degree of testimony whatever. It may 
safely be affirmed, that no instance can be 



140 CONCLUDING SUMMARY. 

produced of any one fact or event, said to 
have taken place in past ages, and established 
by such evidence as that on which the Chris- 
tian Revelation rests, that afterwards turned 
out to be false. We challenge the enemies of 
our faith to bring forward, if they can, any 
such instance. If they cannot (and we know 
it to be impossible), we have a right to say, 
that a religion, supported by such an extra- 
ordinary accumulation of evidence, must be 
true ; and that all men who pretend to be 
guided by argument and by proof, are bound, 
by the most sacred obligations, to receive the 
Religion of Christ as a real Revelation from 
God. 



EDIJTBVRGH : PRINTED BY ROBERT CLARK. 



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